Caribbean Environment Programme - UNEP

UNEP(DEC)/CAR WG.18/6
Anexo V
Apéndice 2
Página 5
CARTAGENA WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION AND
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT MASTER PLAN
Joan Borell
Cartagena, founded in 1533 by Pedro de Heredia, is the capital of the Department of
Bolívar, Colombia. Its current population is nearly 1 million. The city, which was designated a
World Heritage Site, retains a good deal of its colonial heritage and is an internationally known
tourist centre.
Its water supply and sanitation systems have been managed since 1995 by Aguas de
Cartagena, S.A. E. S. P., a jointly owned public utilities company, which was at the time the first
joint venture model for the public and private sectors in Colombia. The District of Cartagena
holds 50 per cent of the capital stock, and the operating partner, Aguas de Barcelona, 48 percent;
the remaining 4 per cent is held privately.
For the payment of public utilities, the Colombian population is divided into six levels,
the first three (1, 2 and 3) being subsidized by the last two (5 and 6), while level 4 is neutral and
pays for the cost of the service it receives. ince the new company took over, water supply
coverage has risen from 72 to 88 per cent, with more than 200,000 beneficiaries (44 per cent in
level 1, 30 per cent in level 2 and 11 per cent in level 3), while sanitation coverage has risen from
57 to 75 per cent, with 146,000 new users (23 per cent in level 1, 41 per cent in level 2 and 17
per cent in level 3). Other relevant data indicate improvements in the percentage of metering
(from 45 to 98 per cent), collection of payments (from 47 to 88 per cent) and unaccounted water
(from 80 to 41 per cent).
A Water Supply and Sanitation Master Plan is being developed with the aim of reaching
more than 95 per cent coverage in both services (150,000 and 270,000 persons in the poorest
neighbourhoods will be covered, respectively). During its third and last stage, the Plan will
include a component for the treatment and disposal of the city’s wastewater.
This third stage will cost $117.2 million, $20 million of which represents a nonreimbursable
grant from the Colombian Government, $7.8 million from the District of
Cartagena, $4.6 million from Acuacar, an $85 million credit from the World Bank to the District
guaranteed by the Colombian Government and repayment assistance from Acuacar, which will
contribute $15.4 million to service the debt between 2005 and 2011. The credit is for 22 years,
with a five-year grace period.
The study to select the wastewater treatment and disposal system for wastewater (strictly
domestic wastewater, since the industrial zone is not connected to the sewage system) was
subject to international competitive bidding to evaluate the various alternatives as to which
bodies of water could receive the effluent, the different degrees of treatment and the location of
the disposal system chosen. All the alternatives were assessed from the environmental, social,
technical and economic point of view. The chosen solution was that of preliminary treatment
with final discharge into the Caribbean Sea through an ocean outfall.