Puerto Rico’s water system stutters back to normal
UTUADO, Puerto Rico — Carmen Rodriguez Santiago counts herself lucky to have any water service at home. But eight months after Hurricane Maria, the 52-year-old said the faucets in her house still run dry every two to three days, and the water, when it returns, is flecked with sediment.
Puerto Rican officials claim that water service on the U.S. island has been restored to more than 96 percent of customers as of June 6, but the report of progress masks underlying problems. Outside of cities, service has been slower to be reconnect. Flow is often intermittent and the water quality is un- certain.
Throughout Puerto Rico, electrical outages and faulty generators mean pumps don’t consistently deliver water to homes and operations are disrupted at water treatment plants. Residents are cautioned to boil water for three minutes during the first three days after their water is restored or after an interruption to make sure it is safe to drink.
“The drops in service represent generators failing or places where electricity was reestablished and perhaps temporarily lost,” said Eli Diaz Atienza, executive president of the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority.
The authority declined to share data regarding current water quality on the island.
That is little comfort to rural residents like Rodriguez Santiago, who are left coping with limited access to clean water and fear the new hurricane season, which started this month. She said she broke out into a rash after she tried to shower with the faucet water. She does not wash dishes or bathe with it. She consumes only the water she hauls in from a government-run portable water station.
Water safety has been a persistent issue for Puerto Rico, a problem exacerbated by the storm. Recovery has been fragmented.
Hurricane Maria’s destruction knocked out water service to over half of the residents using the island’s utility provider, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The authority provides water to more than 97 percent of the island.
More than a third of sewage treatment plants were unable to function after the hurricane, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, resulting in raw sewage flowing into waterways residents used for drinking and bathing. And dozens of residents soon after the storm fell ill with leptospirosis, a serious bacterial infection that can occur from consuming or wading in contaminated water, according to health officials.