Puerto Ricans have lost more than power. Vast majority has no clean water : NPR
Alejandro Granadillo / AP
The vast majority of homes in Puerto Rico were left in the dark after Hurricane Fiona wiped out the power grid, but islanders are faced with another devastating emergency: How to access water clean?
There is no electricity, no electricity to run the filtration system and no electricity to pump water into the house. That means no clean water to drink, shower or flush the toilet.
As of Monday afternoon, more than 837,000 Puerto Rican Drainage and Sewerage Administration customers had no water service or were experiencing significant disruption, according to government emergency portal system.
AAA, as Puerto Rico’s water authority, is the only water company on the island and serves 1.2 million customers, which means that only 34% of households currently have clean water. AAA President Doriel I. Pagán Crespo explained that in addition to the power outage, the water supply has been severely impacted by flooding and rising rivers in Puerto Rico.
“Most rivers are too high,” Pagán Crespo said in an interview with WKAQ 580 AM on Monday, El Nuevo Dia reported.
“We have 112 refineries, and most of them are supplied from rivers. … As long as the rivers continue to drop water levels and our staff can safely carry out the tasks. cleaning, that’s how we’re going to do it,” she added.
When the monster Category 4 Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico in September 2017, it took months to restore the city’s water services, forcing people to rely entirely on bottled water or for those who are more desperate, must bathe and drink from natural sources. raw sewage flow into them. A month after the storm, 20 of the 51 wastewater treatment plants on the island are still not working, AP news agency reports. Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Agency officials were unable to inspect some of the island’s highly toxic Superfund sites that have been decommissioned.
Even a year later, a Washington Post-Survey of the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 50% of Puerto Ricans said their households could not have enough clean drinking water.
Currently, communities with restored water sources are being boiling water consultation.