Swani Longhi
Led the research, experimentation and technical development of the treatment system.
BÖËNA ARTICLE
Don’t Drink It… Purify It!
Innovation That Saves 5,000 Liters of Water Every Day
A system conceived and developed by the Monteverde Lodge team now recovers the property’s laundry greywater and saves up to 5,000 liters — approximately 1,320 gallons — of potable water every day.
01 — The Challenge
A Beautiful Garden With a Hidden Water Cost
Monteverde Lodge is the only property within the Böëna collection that relies on the public water supply for its daily operations. All of the other lodges are supplied by their own natural water sources.
This reality had long concerned the gardening team. Each visit from the local ASADA — the community organization responsible for managing the area’s water supply — brought the same criticism: potable water was being used to maintain the lodge’s gardens.
5,000 L
Greywater recovered each day
1,320 gal
Equivalent daily volume
100%
Of laundry greywater treated
0 L
Potable water now needed for garden irrigation
The Question That Started Everything
Could the water already being used in the lodge’s daily operations be recovered, treated and safely reused instead of drawing more potable water from the community supply?
02 — The Idea
A Solution Begins With Curiosity
The solution began taking shape in the mind of Swani Longhi, a member of Böëna’s Maintenance and Engineering Department, who set out to find a sustainable answer to the problem.
Although his previous experience in water treatment was limited to theoretical training at Costa Rica’s National Learning Institute, known as INA, Swani embraced the challenge. Starting from scratch, he invested countless hours learning, researching and experimenting to develop a system that would be both effective and practical for the lodge.
Maintenance Team
Helped adapt the concept into a reliable system suited to the lodge’s daily operation.
Gardening Team
Provided operational insight and now uses the recovered water throughout the gardens.
03 — Finding the Water Source
The Laundry Revealed an Opportunity
Swani’s first step was to analyze the different wastewater streams generated by the property’s daily operations.
That analysis revealed an important opportunity: the lodge’s laundry produced approximately 5,000 liters of greywater every day.
Although this water contains detergents, organic matter and suspended solids, it also has characteristics that make recovery possible through the correct treatment process.
From Waste Stream to Resource
Once the source water had been identified, the next challenge was designing a treatment process capable of recovering it safely and consistently for irrigation.
04 — The Six-Stage System
Screening, Purification, Filtration and Disinfection
After extensive research, guidance from industry experts and numerous rounds of testing, Swani and the Monteverde Lodge gardening and maintenance teams successfully developed an innovative six-stage treatment process.
Initial Screening
Larger particles and visible residues are separated from the laundry greywater.
First Homogenization
The first tank stabilizes the incoming water and helps create a more consistent treatment flow.
Primary Purification
Organic matter, detergent residues and suspended material begin to be reduced.
Second Homogenization
A second tank balances the treated water before it moves into the final filtration stages.
Activated Carbon
Activated carbon filters help improve clarity and remove remaining compounds and odors.
Final Disinfection
The last stage prepares the recovered water for safe and complete reuse in garden irrigation.
Today, the system processes all of the laundry’s greywater, allowing it to be reused entirely for irrigating the lodge’s gardens and eliminating the need to use potable water supplied by the local ASADA for this purpose.
05 — Independent Validation
Results That Exceeded Expectations
To ensure that the treated water met the highest quality standards, the team commissioned comprehensive physicochemical and microbiological analyses through a laboratory accredited under the INTE/ISO/IEC 17025 standard.
INTE/ISO/IEC 17025
Accredited laboratory testing for physicochemical and microbiological quality.
Cleaner Than the Minimum Required
The results confirmed that the treated water was significantly cleaner than the minimum purity levels required by conventional standards, formally validating the effectiveness of the system.
06 — A Team Achievement
From Criticism to Congratulations
When the laboratory officially validated the system, the celebration spread throughout the gardening and maintenance teams.
Don Elkin Vega
Gardener · More than 30 years at Monteverde LodgeFor the team that has cared for the gardens for decades, the system transforms a recurring concern into a reason for pride.
Omar Porras
Gardening TeamFuture visits from the ASADA team may now bring congratulations instead of criticism over the use of potable water.
Kimberly Arguedas
General Manager · Monteverde LodgeThe achievement strengthens the lodge’s resilience in the face of El Niño and the growing climate challenges affecting hospitality.
07 — The Next Challenge
A Model With Potential Across Böëna
The system has turned a daily waste stream into a dependable irrigation resource while reducing pressure on Monteverde’s public water supply.
For Swani, however, the work is not finished. His attention is already focused on expanding the impact of the initiative and exploring how the system could be adapted for every Böëna lodge.
Innovation That Begins With One Practical Question
What began as a concern raised by the local water authority became a working example of operational sustainability, team ingenuity and measurable conservation.
Every day, another 5,000 liters of potable water remain available for the community — because the water used by the lodge’s laundry is no longer discarded, but recovered.
Stay tuned.