San Juan Residents Endure 118 Waterless Days as Puerto Rico Confronts $7 Billion Infrastructure Crisis
Updated
Updated · EL PAÍS USA · Aug 5
San Juan Residents Endure 118 Waterless Days as Puerto Rico Confronts $7 Billion Infrastructure Crisis
3 articles · Updated · EL PAÍS USA · Aug 5
Summary
Nearly 100 residents in San Juan’s Machuchal and Loíza Street areas logged 118 days without water this year, a disruption severe enough to trigger an Aug. 4 protest and a lawsuit by Mayor Miguel Romero.
Residents and activists say repeated outages stem partly from inexperienced Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority staff failing to manually operate valves after 2025 management changes, while the utility blames years of deferred maintenance.
Governor Jenniffer González says at least $7 billion in water projects are underway or planned, including upgrades to two treatment plants expected to add 50 million gallons a day—about 20% of metro demand.
The wider system remains fragile: Puerto Rico loses roughly 267 million of 513 million gallons produced daily to leaks, or about 40% by the utility’s estimate, while 85% of the island is under moderate or severe drought.
That strain is concentrated in the 26-year-old Superaqueduct serving 15 municipalities, where recent failures and unknown internal conditions have raised warnings of broader economic damage and possible rationing.