Thousands of Puerto Ricans are at a breaking point after weeks without reliable running water, as a pipeline rupture and ongoing drought conditions have created a crisis that residents say feels 'as if a hurricane had passed.' The water shortages have severely disrupted daily life across the U.S. territory, prompting Governor Jenniffer González-Colón to activate the National Guard to distribute drinking water.
The crisis has been particularly acute in San Juan's Calle Loíza, a popular street known for its restaurants and bars, where businesses have gone without water for more than 50 days. Jonathan Collazo, who owns two restaurants in the area, said the water problems began in May and have continued with only brief periods of reliable service. 'If it were one week or two weeks, fine. But this is as if a hurricane had passed,' he said.
Businesses and Residents Struggle to Cope
To keep his restaurants open, Collazo relies on two cisterns, including a 1,000-gallon tank that he needs to refill every two days at a cost of about $300 per fill. On one Thursday alone, he spent $600 just to keep running water available for his customers. At times, when logistics become too complicated, he has had to close some of the restaurant's bathrooms.
Kali Solack, co-owner of Café Regina and Hilda Deli, said she was 'battling two businesses with no water,' estimating the businesses were spending about $300 a day on water, in addition to increased costs for disposable items. The coffee shop had kept a running tally on its front window, marking the days customers had gone without reliable water service.
For residents without cisterns, the burden is especially heavy. More than 40% of Puerto Rico's 3.2 million people live below the poverty line, making the costly investment in cisterns out of reach for many. Residents are paying a premium for bottled water or rearranging their entire day around collecting water from distribution stations.
Infrastructure Failures and Drought
While residents have experienced bouts of intermittent service due to ageing infrastructure and years of inadequate maintenance, the situation worsened dramatically in June when a massive rupture occurred in the 72-inch Superaqueduct pipeline in Bayamón. Since then, disruptions at water treatment plants and reservoirs have compounded the problem, and the government has not publicly pointed to the cause of the outage's severity.
The shortages extend beyond San Juan, with sectors in municipalities including Loíza, Guaynabo, Bayamón and others experiencing interrupted service. Water distribution stations have been set up in some of the archipelago's most densely populated areas, but after weeks of scrambling to secure water for bathing, flushing toilets and drinking, many Puerto Ricans say they have reached breaking point.
The water shortages are unfolding as parts of the archipelago face drought conditions linked to prolonged rainfall deficits, adding another layer of strain as Puerto Rico enters hurricane season, which runs from June to November.
Government Response and Calls for Action
San Juan's mayor, Miguel Romero, sued Puerto Rico's water and sewer authority in late May over the outages. Marta Acevedo, 75, who has lived in the same San Juan building for 44 years, said this had been the 'longest amount of time' she had gone without reliable running water, even surpassing the disruption caused by Hurricane María, which devastated the island in 2017.
The crisis has also drawn attention to the broader challenges facing Puerto Rico's water infrastructure. Lawmakers have proposed measures to strengthen the island's water infrastructure as studies warn that Puerto Rico continues to face recurring droughts, while reservoirs are losing usable capacity due to sediment accumulation, erosion, and invasive vegetation.
The government has been monitoring drought conditions closely, with officials evaluating whether to implement scheduled water interruptions in the coming weeks as reservoirs continue to show declining levels amid a prolonged period of low rainfall.
