Wastewater permits in Costa Rica, explained

Many beach areas in Costa Rica have no public sewer, so every hotel, condo and house has to treat its own wastewater on site. That system is regulated by several agencies, each with its own permit, and the paperwork is in Spanish. This guide explains the four pieces most owners and investors run into: the discharge permit, the location permit, SETENA environmental approval and the operational reports. It is general information based on the regulations in force in November 2026; every project should be reviewed case by case.

A quick map before the details:

Discharge permit (MINAE)

Anyone who uses a river, creek or other water body to discharge treated wastewater needs a discharge permit (permiso de vertido) issued by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). The application is handled by the Dirección de Agua under the Environmental Discharge Fee Regulation, Decree 42128-MINAE-S.

Key points:

• It is a prerequisite. Article 18 of Decree 42128 makes the discharge permit a requirement for the location permit of the treatment system and for the health operating permit.
• Application. A form with the status of a sworn statement, filed with the Dirección de Agua. If the system has operated for one year or more, you attach the Ministry of Health's wastewater quality certificate. If it has operated for less than a year, you attach a lab analysis from an authorized lab, including soluble COD, with the sample taken less than three months before.
• Condos. If the condo has its own legal ID, the application goes in the condo's name, not the administrator's.
• Process. Admissibility review, a technical review with a site inspection, and a legal resolution. The regulation sets a two-month term once the application is admitted.
• Validity. Up to ten years, renewable for equal periods.
• The fee. The permit comes with a quarterly environmental discharge fee (canon ambiental por vertidos), calculated on the net load of soluble COD and total suspended solids, in kilograms. Late payment accrues 3% monthly interest, and two consecutive unpaid quarters can lead to revocation of the permit.

If your system infiltrates treated water into the ground instead of discharging to a water body, the discharge permit does not apply in the same way; subsurface disposal follows Decree 42075-S-MINAE.

Location permit (Ministry of Health)

The location permit (permiso de ubicación) is the Ministry of Health's approval of where the treatment system will sit on the property. It is regulated by Decree 39887-S-MINAE and filed online through the Ventanilla Única de Inversión (VUI).

What you should know:

• It comes before the plans. It is a prerequisite for the review of the construction plans. It does not oblige any other agency to grant its permits and does not replace them.
• What it asks for. Project and owner details, an updated cadastral plan, a description of the proposed system, the proposed final disposal of the water, the MINAE discharge permit if the water goes to a water body, and a site plan with setbacks to property lines and buildings, the outfall or sewer connection, nearby streams, and existing wells within 200 meters.
• Infiltration above 190 m³ per month. Projects that dispose of treated water by infiltration and exceed 190 cubic meters of water use per month need an additional technical criterion from SENARA's groundwater area.
• Timing. The Ministry must resolve within 22 calendar days. It may ask once, in writing, for missing information, which you must provide within ten business days.
• Validity. Two years from issue.
• Changes later. An existing system that is remodeled or expanded within its originally approved footprint does not need a new location permit, but the construction plans must still be approved.

Decree 39887 also lists where treated water may go when there is no sewer: a receiving water body with a discharge permit, reuse (for example irrigation), infiltration into the ground (only for ordinary, domestic-type wastewater, backed by a calculation report), evaporation, or a combination. Projects in beach towns often combine reuse for landscaping in the dry season with another option for the rest of the year.

SETENA environmental approval

SETENA (the National Environmental Technical Secretariat) grants the environmental approval (viabilidad ambiental) of projects. The rules changed: the old regulation, Decree 31849, was repealed and replaced by the Regulation on Environmental Evaluation, Control and Monitoring, Decree 43898. If you read older advice about a "D2 form" as the general route for low-impact projects, it refers to the repealed system. According to SETENA's FAQ, the D2 now remains as a digital environmental registration (article 30 bis) for category C and B2 projects in cantons whose zoning plan has the environmental variable integrated and an approved environmental viability.

Under Decree 43898:

• Projects are classified by potential impact into categories A (high), B1 and B2 (moderate) and C (low), plus a very low category D.
• The entry document is the D1 form, filed on SETENA's digital platform with digital signature. Depending on the resulting score, the project follows one of three routes: D1 + sworn environmental commitments (DJCA) for B2, D1 + environmental management plan forecast (P-PGA) for B1, or D1 + environmental impact study (EsIA) for category A.
• Low-impact projects located in an environmentally fragile area use the shorter D1-C.
• Construction under 1,000 m² generally does not require an environmental assessment; between 500 and 1,000 m² in a fragile area it requires a D1-C; above 1,000 m² it requires a D1.
• Review times set by the regulation: 14 calendar days for D1 + DJCA, 21 for D1 + P-PGA and 28 for D1 + EsIA, plus up to 7 days for the resolution. A request for missing information pauses the clock.
• Official fees listed in the regulation: US$200 for D1 + DJCA, US$500 for D1 + P-PGA, US$1,500 for D1 + EsIA, and US$50 plus US$10 for the good practices code in the case of the D1-C.
• Once granted, the approval is valid for five years before the project starts. After that, compliance is tracked through a digital environmental logbook managed by an appointed environmental officer.

Whether your project needs SETENA depends on its activity, size and location, so check this early: it affects the schedule more than any other permit.

Operational reports

Once a treatment plant is running, the work is not over. Under the Wastewater Discharge and Reuse Regulation, Decree 33601-MINAE-S, every facility whose effluent goes to a water body or a sewer, or is reused, must file operational reports (reportes operacionales) with the Ministry of Health. Single-family homes are exempt.

• Platform. Reports are generated only in the Ministry's SIRROAR system and then filed with the local Health Area office.
• Frequency. Every six months if the average flow is 100 m³ per day or less; every three months if it is higher; monthly for plants that receive wastewater from different generators.
• Deadline. Ten business days after the reporting period ends.
• Who signs. A technical officer registered with the Ministry of Health, plus the owner or legal representative. Lab analyses must come from labs with a health operating permit.
• Infiltration systems. Under Decree 42075, systems that infiltrate treated water and exceed 190 m³ of monthly water use must also report, except single-family homes.
• Why it matters. Renewing the health operating permit requires the reports to be up to date. Missing a report can lead to a health order suspending that permit.

Systems that serve condos, urbanizations or third parties must also hold a valid health operating permit (permiso sanitario de funcionamiento), according to article 30 of Decree 39887.

FAQ

The questions below cover what owners ask most often. The most common mistake is to start building, or close a purchase, before confirming that the wastewater system has its permits and its reports in order.

Ingeniería de las Aguas is an engineering firm based in Palmares, Alajuela, that designs, builds and upgrades wastewater treatment systems, prepares operational reports and handles government permits, with projects in Guanacaste, Puntarenas (Central Pacific and Southern Zone), Limón, the Greater Metropolitan Area and western Alajuela. For an overview of permits in Spanish, see environmental permit management and discharge and location permits; for beach projects in the north Pacific, see treatment plants in Guanacaste. If you have a specific property or project, send the details by WhatsApp and we will tell you which permits apply.