“I provide water to so many people.
Part 1: Puerto Rico surf town faces identity crisis – Hurricane Maria stole its beach Part 2: Puerto Rico’s next hurricane could risk natural water supplies many relied on after Maria Part 3, on debris, will be published Friday.
‘I don’t drink that water’ Residents in Consejo and neighboring Viví Arriba are mostly elderly and low-income.
López Bonilla’s concrete box, which serves seven families, is connected to a spring by 2,500 feet of pipes.
Another 24 tanks operated by neighbors serve the rest of the community.
But an estimated 170 neighborhoods — which includes about 140,000 families — use water from wells, springs and streams, according to Environmental Protection Agency data provided by water engineer Ferdinand Quiñones.
These community systems are called Non-PRASA, and they’re loosely supervised by the Puerto Rico Department of Health.
Many had never been tested before, he said.
Locals resist change In parts of Utuado, Tamar said it was a challenge to get residents to understand the risks of drinking water from springs — even though most of the natural sources, in his view, were not reliable enough to use for drinking water.
“This will be hanging over Puerto Rico for the foreseeable future — whether natural or manmade problems — we may very well end up at where we were during Hurricane Maria,” Tamar said.