Agua y vertimientos: verifica lo que entra y lo que sale
Watch the explanation and read its transcript on Agua y vertimientos: verifica lo que entra y lo que sale. To continue your review, also read Servicios públicos de un lote: cómo verificar disponibilidad y costo real and Riesgo natural en un lote: mapas, estudios y condiciones para decidir.
Video, transcript and related readingA hose or nearby source does not establish lawful, sufficient supply or resolve the destination of wastewater.
Describe the actual supply arrangement
Start by asking where the water comes from, who supplies it and through which infrastructure. Distinguish a provider connection, community system, own abstraction, storage and temporary deliveries. A hose working during a viewing does not explain continuity, quality, rights or capacity for the project. Obtain service or abstraction documents appropriate to the arrangement and connect their holder and scope with the offered lot. If the seller says a neighbour shares a spring, request the agreement and relevant legal assessment; a private relationship does not replace required authorisations. Also check pipe routes and authority to maintain them where they cross other holdings. Decree 1076 regulates use of water and channels, while service provision involves other obligations. The purchaser needs a verifiable description of the existing arrangement and another of the arrangement required for the intended use. Avoid treating a temporary connection as definitive infrastructure merely because water is flowing on the day of inspection.
Quantify the project’s demand
An occasionally occupied home, several accommodation units and a crop may require different arrangements. Ask the professional to estimate demand, occupancy variation, storage and quality requirements for the activity without treating an estimate as an abstraction entitlement. Ask what evidence supports dry-season continuity and how sanitary quality is checked. Where a provider exists, obtain an answer relevant to the property and project, identifying connection conditions and required works. A nearby network does not establish available capacity at the proposed connection point. For a community system, examine membership rules, infrastructure, obligations and abstraction documentation. The seller should not be assumed able to promise new users whom the system has not accepted. Technical assessment and enquiries should match the use being evaluated under municipal rules. This allows genuine alternatives to be compared and identifies budgets omitting pumping, treatment, storage or a network extension not yet authorised. Record assumptions separately from measurements and institutional responses so future changes can be evaluated coherently.
Identify who decides each question
The municipality, provider and environmental authority perform different functions. Establish exact location, land classification, source and system before deciding whom to consult. Law 99 allocates environmental competence, and the applicable framework may vary by jurisdiction; do not assume one authority serves all Medellín and surrounding municipalities. Request formal direction where competence is uncertain and retain the response. Municipal use advice does not grant water abstraction, and a concession does not itself authorise every proposed structure. Submit separate questions about abstraction, discharge, channel occupation and connection, linked to the same drawing. Include property identification and an accurate activity description rather than describing tourism accommodation as an occasional home to obtain a simpler answer. The result should identify necessary steps and outstanding conditions. Geographic precision prevents applying permission or advice issued for another source, activity or area served by a different body. Ensure each adviser works with the same factual description even when their responsibilities and decision-making powers differ.
Read the concession or applicable alternative framework
For own abstraction, review the applicable framework and exceptions before installing or expanding infrastructure. Article 2.2.3.2.5.3 of Decree 1076, amended by Decree 875 of 2026, refers to a concession or environmental permission subject to relevant statutory exceptions. Do not infer a general exemption from words such as domestic or community. Where an authorisation exists, obtain the complete decision, plans, holder, source, flow, use, duration and obligations. Check changes and necessary steps on sale or alteration of the project rather than assuming automatic transfer or expansion. Permission for a particular home or activity may not cover the intended use. Also request relevant monitoring and compliance evidence. A submitted application does not establish a grant. The assessment should explain the right or condition supporting supply and the steps still required, making clear that water on the land is not unrestricted ownership of the resource or unlimited availability. Connect the authorised arrangement with the actual infrastructure inspected and any proposed modifications.
Resolve the destination of used water
Design sanitation alongside supply. Establish whether sewerage is available, an individual solution is proposed or another system applies, and where discharges will ultimately go. Article 2.2.3.3.5.1 of Decree 1076 establishes the permission framework for discharges to water or soil; exceptions and specific regimes, including dispersed rural housing where relevant, require assessment against actual facts and current requirements. Do not claim every septic tank follows exactly the same procedure or that installing one removes all authorisation requirements. Obtain design, capacity, operation and maintenance suitable for the site and activity. Where discharge infrastructure affects a channel, assess that intervention too. A supplier may sell equipment without establishing feasibility of the disposal location. Include maintenance access, management of system waste and responsibilities. Technical questions remain unresolved if the buyer has only seen running water and treats sanitation as something to decide after construction. The required solution should match occupancy and use assumptions rather than a generic equipment package.
Example: supply for one house and a larger accommodation project
A farm has a community connection used by one household. A purchaser plans several cabins and the seller promises that the same hose will supply them all. Review requests information about capacity, user admission and conditions from the system, a demand calculation from the professional, and assessment of relevant steps from the authorities. A sanitation arrangement designed for much lower occupancy also emerges. Extensions, authorisations or alternatives absent from the initial price need examination. This hypothetical example does not claim every accommodation project is impossible or that community systems can never expand. It shows that service for one activity does not establish sufficient and lawful supply for another. The purchaser may reduce scale, change design or await results before releasing dependent payments. Documenting these options supports evidence-based negotiation and avoids turning a promise of abundant water into an obligation difficult to meet after sale. The assessment should address both increased water demand and the additional wastewater generated by the proposed activity.
Budget operation, seasonal variation and monitoring
Installation is only one part of the budget; the system also needs operation. Include maintenance, pumping energy, relevant testing, cleaning, repairs and obligations imposed by the applicable decision or agreement. Obtain current prices and retain demand assumptions; this guide sets no rates or tariffs. Ask what happens during drought, power failure or damage to access and which alternative can lawfully be used. Storage can improve continuity under suitable conditions, but creates no additional abstraction right and does not make unevaluated water potable. For shared infrastructure, identify responsibility, access and documented cost allocation. Keep monitoring decisions and address required steps when activity changes. Law 99 provides for environmental charges and functions under its framework; payment should not be confused with automatic legalisation of unsupported abstraction. The budget needs to distinguish confirmed obligations from investments still dependent on design or approval rather than presenting a provisional amount as the definitive cost. Ongoing records also help a later purchaser understand how the supply and sanitation arrangements have been managed.
Complete with two documented solutions
The final file should explain both how adequate, sufficient water reaches the project and how used water is managed. Connect service or abstraction documents, plans, permissions or applicable alternative framework, studies and outstanding costs. If a response concerns another holder or activity, obtain clarification before treating it as evidence for the proposed arrangement. Incorporate essential conditions into the agreement with advice and define the result required before the relevant payment. Ownership of the lot does not replace necessary public decisions. This guide received editorial review on 14 October 2026 and includes the national Decree 1076 framework with the July 2026 amendment introduced by Decree 875. It grants neither water rights nor discharge approval. The actual solution depends on location, authority, source, activity and applicable legal exceptions, together with professional design enabling operation and maintenance under the conditions actually contemplated. Preserve both supply and sanitation conclusions so the purchase decision reflects the whole system rather than one working tap.
Supply, abstraction and sanitation worksheet
Complete a row for each solution and retain the full supporting document. Connect available water with project demand and wastewater disposal; this worksheet organises checks without granting permission.
| Review question | Evidence to record | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Who supplies water, and for what demand? | Provider, connection point, capacity response and proposed occupancy, with date and property reference. | Seek clarification if the response covers a home but your project adds guests, irrigation or another activity. |
| What supports own abstraction? | Source, holder, complete decision if one exists, flow, use, duration and obligations; mark unknown information. | Check the framework and its exceptions before installation; connect each authorisation with the abstraction actually proposed. |
| Will use change after purchase? | Current holder, proposed buyer, infrastructure expansion and differences between authorised and intended use. | Ask which procedure applies to the change; do not treat the land sale as automatic permit transfer. |
| Where will wastewater go? | System, expected load, discharge point, design, operation and maintenance; distinguish surface water, soil and sewerage. | Review the actual framework with the professional and authority, including applicable dispersed-rural-housing exceptions. |
| Who handles continuity and follow-up? | Provider or holder obligations, maintenance, quoted costs and outstanding compliance evidence. | Assign an owner and next enquiry to each outstanding item; running water alone does not complete review. |
Sources & bibliography
Read the full document, its date, amendments and scope. The editorial review date describes this page; it does not establish an authorisation or a specific answer about your plot or financing.
- 01Decreto 1076 de 2015 · arts. 2.2.3.2.5.3, 2.2.3.2.7.1 y 2.2.3.3.5.1-5.10; agua y vertimientoscancilleria.gov.co · National
- 02Ley 99 de 1993 · arts. 31, 43 y 66; competencias y uso del aguacancilleria.gov.co · National
- 03Ley 388 de 1997 · arts. 10, 35 y 99; proyecto, suelo y permisos municipalescancilleria.gov.co · National
- 04Decreto 875 de 29 de julio de 2026 · gestión comunitaria y modificación de Decreto 1076www.minambiente.gov.co · National