TITLE:
Puerto Rico’s Water Supply: An Investigation of the Levels of Trihalomethanes and Other Contaminants
AUTHORS:
Yaritza Jones, Wendy Wilburn, Sujata Guha, Ryan Beni
KEYWORDS:
Water Quality, Social Disparity, Puerto Rico, Contaminants, Household Income, Income Per Capita, Environmental Justice, Hurricane Maria
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.11 No.8,
August
7,
2023
ABSTRACT: The US
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is comprised of 143 islands, atolls, cays, and
islets. Of the 143 localities, only 3 islands are inhabited: The mainland
(often referenced as Puerto Rico), Culebra, and Vieques. To properly analyze
the water supply quality, the mainland will be the focal point for examining
environmental and social injustices. Puerto Rico is a racially diverse but
ethnically homogenous territory, with most of the commonwealth living below the
poverty level. Access to clean water sources is always tenuous in Puerto Rico.
Over 70 percent of the island is served by water, violating US health
standards. However, the recent hurricanes made the situation even more
detrimental. According to data reported between January 2015 and March 2018 by
the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), 97 percent of the population of Puerto
Rico utilizes a common drinking water system with one or more recent violations
of the Safe Drinking Water Act for its testing requirements for lead and copper
levels. The amounts found were far higher than any US state, meaning that virtually everyone on the island gets water from systems that violated
testing or reporting requirements. In this study, we have collected and
analyzed the levels of trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), copper,
lead, and total organic compounds (TOCs) in drinking water providing systems in
Puerto Rico and compared them with the recommended levels of contaminants
provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines. Many of
these reported contaminants can have serious and detrimental health effects
after prolonged exposure to higher concentrations of the contaminants found in
the drinking water sources of Puerto Rico.