“What the atlas showed, specifically, was the mineral content of the water,” he replied. “It revealed that the water hardness, the calcium and magnesium content, was higher in Nicoya than anywhere else in Costa Rica.” To confirm this, Gianni used a water-testing kit; in each of the 20 or so households where he conducted interviews, he tested the drinking water. The result: “The water had such high levels of calcium and magnesium that I had to dilute it by 50 percent with distilled water just so that I could test it.”
