The emergency supplies were brought in by FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which smashed the island and left its residents without power, without roofs and without running water.
Federal officials commandeered the area in the far east of the island last fall as a staging ground, collecting the water and containers full of tarps to patch damaged and destroyed roofs in surrounding neighborhoods.
And there the supplies sat.
Storm survivors were collecting spring water from the mountains for cooking and bathing, even with the threat of disease that brought.
Ottmar Chavez, now administrator of Puerto Rico’s General Services Administration, said FEMA reported that it had about 20,000 pallets of bottled water in excess in May this year, before Chavez was appointed.
His agency claimed the water, intending to deliver it where it was needed.
But after about 700 pallets had been distributed, complaints began to come in about the water’s foul smell and taste, Chavez said in a statement.
We are going to return those waters,” he said.
The mayor of Ceiba, Angel Cruz Ramos, told CNN he’s grateful for the generosity, but believes that too much water was delivered at the wrong time.
“The time and heat has made it bad,” he added.