Another Flint? Why Puerto Ricans No Longer Trust Water After the Hurricane

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Wed, 2018-08-08 20:54 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Ben Bostick, from Columbia University, and a Cuny intern, Alondra Cruz Portillo, test water collected in the northern town of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Photograph: Angel Valentin for the Guardian

CLICK HERE - Small Water Systems in Puerto Rico Badly Affected by Maria

CLICK HERE - Government of Puerto Rico - Desirability and Convenience Study - Optimizing PRASA’s Metering Infrastructure and Customer Service Experience - March 2018 (93 page .PDF report)

Ten months after Maria hit water quality still seems inconsistent, and local residents aren’t taking any chances

theguardian.com - by Oliver Milman - August 8, 2018

Of all the things that were obliterated when Hurricane Maria crunched into Puerto Rico in September last year, trust may end up being the hardest to repair.

Residents of the US territory are openly disdainful of the efforts of government, from Donald Trump downwards, to provide the basics of disaster relief, to correctly count the dead and even to express concern over their continuing plight. This breakdown in trust now extends to the island’s drinking water . . .

. . . An assessment of 237 small, independent water systems in Puerto Rico, serving around 89,100 people, found nearly half “suffered from a significant deterioration in operational capacity several months after the storm, in some cases leading to a total inability to deliver water to residents”, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - EPA - EPA Teams Up with Non-Governmental Organizations to Help Restore Drinking Water to Communities in Puerto Rico

Country / Region Tags:

United States

General Topic Tags:

Water

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Groups this Group Post belongs to:

Water - Puerto Rico