Lake Managua only in 2009 that a modern wastewater treatment plant (built and operated by the British company Biwater) was opened in Managua, but even it treats only 40% of the city's wastewater. The lake today has no stable outlet, with only occasional floods to Lake Nicaragua through the Tipitapa River. Pollutants are thus concentrated. Despite the pollution, some of the people of Managua still live along the lake's shores and eat the fish. In 2007 the "malecón" area was dredged and the sediment hauled off on barges. A strong odor which permeated the area from the sediment disappeared. A stone rip-rap
Managua the Old Cathedral of Managua was designed by Belgian architects, and the iron that was used to shape the core of the cathedral was shipped from Belgium. Construction lasted from 1928 to 1938, overseen by Pablo Dambach, who was a Belgian engineer residing in Managua. The architects had been inspired by the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, France. The St. James' Cathedral became the first cathedral in the Western Hemisphere to be built entirely of concrete on a metal frame. The cathedral survived the 1931 earthquake, but was heavily damaged during the 1972 earthquake, which eventually led to the construction