Collaborative Research: IRES Track I: US-Costa Rica Collaboration to Quantify the Holistic Benefits of Resource Recovery in Small-Scale Communities

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Integrating waste treatment with resource recovery in small-scale communities can facilitate progress toward global sanitation initiatives. However, challenges in quantifying and communicating the holistic social, environmental, and economic impacts and benefits of wastewater management strategies can prevent the implementation of such initiatives. This IRES Track I program will take place in Costa Rica, where 66% of the septic tank sludge is not treated properly before disposal and 86% of the wastewater connected to sanitary sewers receives limited to no treatment prior to discharge. Contamination caused by untreated wastewater jeopardizes Costa Rica’s national economy, which is dependent on ecotourism. Consequently, this program will provide 18 U.S. students from West Virginia University, University of South Florida, and California State University, Chico with an international and interdisciplinary research experience in engineering and anthropology over the course of three years. Students will use both social science and engineering methods to improve the long-term sustainability of sanitation systems in small communities using triple-bottom line (social, environmental, and economic) decision making strategies for wastewater management. Students will develop interdisciplinary skills and competencies while addressing global sanitation challenges in the socioeconomic and cultural context of rapidly urbanizing cities in Costa Rica. Along with increased participation of students from underrepresented groups, this program will contribute to training a diverse U.S. workforce to address environmental issues of global significance. The program will strengthen and expand the partnership between collaborators in the U.S. and Costa Rica to facilitate progress toward safe management of wastewater and integrated resource recovery in a sustainable and culturally appropriate way.This IRES Track I program will provide 18 U.S. students from West Virginia University, University of South Florida, and California State University, Chico with an international and interdisciplinary research experience to solve complex sanitation challenges in the ecotourism community of Santa Elena, Costa Rica. This three-year research experience is motivated by the following driving objectives: develop convergent knowledge at the intersection of environmental engineering and anthropology; provide U.S. students the opportunity to develop interdisciplinary global skills and competencies; and facilitate safe management of wastewater and integrated recovery of resources in Costa Rica. The intellectual merit of this project stems from interdisciplinary research combining the fields of environmental engineering and anthropology to address issues of global importance in a sustainable and culturally appropriate way. This convergent research will spur the development of global skills and competencies and will facilitate safe management of wastewater and recovery of resources in Costa Rica. In this IRES program, undergraduate and graduate students will receive training and skill development in water quality testing, life cycle assessment, life cycle cost analysis, and qualitative and quantitative social science data collection and analysis. Students will work in multidisciplinary teams to engage a wide range of local stakeholders to identify and assess sustainability metrics relevant to small wastewater treatment integrating resource recovery to support decision-making in the sanitation sector. Students will assess triple-bottom line (social, environmental, and economic) sustainability metrics and use multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to improve the long-term sustainability of sanitation systems. A new MCDA tool will be developed based on the social, environmental and economic context of Central America. The tool will allow wastewater utilities in small communities serving populations of less than 10,000 to compare performance across multiple criteria for alternate solutions at decentralized, semi-centralized and centralized scales of implementation. IRES students will develop interdisciplinary skills and competencies while addressing global sanitation challenges in the socioeconomic and cultural context of Costa Rica. This, along with increased participation of students from underrepresented groups, will contribute to training a diverse U.S. workforce. The program will strengthen and expand the partnership between collaborators in the U.S. and Costa Rica to facilitate progress toward safe management of wastewater and integrated resource recovery in Costa Rica.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.