Puerto Rico’s Water Crisis Is So Bad That Milk Trucks Are Being Used to Deliver Drinking Water to San Juan Neighborhoods

Puerto Rico's Water Crisis Is So Bad That Milk Trucks Are Being Used to Deliver Drinking Water to San Juan Neighborhoods

Puerto Rico has spent years dealing with chronic power outages that have tested the patience and resilience of its 3.2 million residents, and now the island is facing a water crisis severe enough that the governor has activated the National Guard and emergency services are fielding calls every single day. Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans across San Juan and other heavily populated areas are going days and in some cases weeks without running water, buying bottled water, spending money at laundromats and hauling heavy buckets up multiple flights of stairs to flush toilets, wash dishes and bathe.

The water utility draws from rivers, reservoirs and underground aquifers, and the infrastructure has gone without meaningful investment or maintenance for decades, something Governor Jenniffer González has acknowledged publicly. The consequences of that neglect are now landing hardest on the people least equipped to absorb them.

What Daily Life Looks Like Without Running Water

Residents across San Juan’s most populated neighborhoods are navigating a daily reality that has become physically punishing. People are carrying buckets up multiple flights of stairs every morning, injuring their shoulders and backs in the process. Elderly residents and people confined to their beds are among the hardest hit, with some relying on wet wipes and towels to bathe and on neighbors to carry water up to their apartments. Community leaders have reported that some residents have required hospitalization as the shortage persists.

The financial burden is compounding the physical one. Puerto Rico already has a poverty rate above 40 percent, and residents are now spending money on bottled water, laundromats and disposable dishes on top of their regular bills. The additional cruelty is that many are still being charged for water service they are not receiving. As one community leader in Santurce put it, people are losing on every front.

Nearly 40,000 customers were affected by outages during the first weekend of June alone. At least one fixed tanker truck in an impoverished community sat empty for days, and residents celebrated the arrival of a replacement, calling the municipal workers heroes. Others have complained that the government does not announce when tanker trucks will arrive, leaving working people unable to collect water during the hours they are away from home.

The Government’s Response and Its Limits

Governor González activated the National Guard following the June outages, deploying four trucks with a capacity of 2,000 gallons each. Puerto Rico’s Tourism Company added larger tanker trucks to supply hotels and short-term rentals, and the Department of Agriculture disinfected milk transport trucks to distribute drinking water to communities in need. González announced Wednesday night that all infrastructure repair projects are now underway, backed by a 217 million dollar investment.

The 217 million dollar investment and the National Guard deployment have not yet translated into running water for the neighborhoods that need it most. Community leaders across San Juan say the emotional toll of the shortage has become its own crisis layered on top of the logistical one.

A Lawsuit and a Political Fight With No Easy Resolution

San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero filed a lawsuit against the island’s water and sewer authority in late May, and dozens of Puerto Ricans packed a courtroom to hear the ruling, anxious for any indication of when service might return. Romero, who belongs to the same political party as the governor, suggested the crisis would not have reached this point had a former regional director not been removed from his position.

The new head of the water authority placed blame on his predecessor, Roberto Martínez Toledo, who was recently assigned to a judge-ordered committee tasked with investigating and resolving the chronic shortage. Some residents are demanding Martínez’s return to his former role while a growing number are directing their frustration at the governor directly. The political dispute over accountability has done nothing to restore water pressure in the neighborhoods where people are still waiting, still carrying buckets and still asking when the crisis will end.

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