Puerto Rico is currently grappling with a historic drought, leading to a dramatic increase in water rationing following the driest month on record in July. The government has deliberately limited water access to the northeast to conserve local supplies, a stark contrast to some other island states where decentralized infrastructure is commonplace. Fernando Abruña, a partner at Abruña & Musgrave Architects, highlights the island’s potential for rainwater harvesting, noting that the area boasts an annual rainfall of 30 to 169 inches, yet the government’s lack of incentives for residents to utilize this resource – unlike many other island communities – is a significant concern.
“One of the best unused reservoirs of water in Puerto Rico are the roofs of the houses,” says Abruña, “allowing for the potential of 30 billion gallons of water a year if just 1 million households used rainwater collection technology.” The drought has exacerbated a water crisis already in motion, driven by ruptured water pipes and deteriorating infrastructure. Governor Jenniffer González has ordered municipal governments to shut off water two days at a time, leaving 180,000 households with limited access. The problem began well before this, with many families experiencing more than 100 days without consistent water.
Environmental lawyer Ruth Santiago argues that the primary issue isn’t a lack of water, but rather the government’s mismanagement of it. “Even with the climate crisis and these droughts, we still have abundant water,” says Santiago, referencing the Committee Diálogo Ambiental (Environmental Dialogue Committee). She emphasizes the potential for rainwater harvesting, suggesting a storm’s eruption mid-conversation as a critical moment.
The most resilient harvesting systems rely on gravity, using gutters to divert rainwater from a roof to a canister that connects to indoor pipes like a faucet or showerhead. Larger systems can collect water to cool power plants and other industrial uses.
The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority loses approximately 60 percent of the island’s drinking water before any arrives at customers’ homes due to leaking pipes and failing infrastructure. The ongoing emergency was caused, in part, by a series of ruptures in the 72-inch Superaqueduct water pipe, a main artery that services major cities on the northern coast. Repairing and updating the island’s aging water distribution system is most urgent, Santiago says, but rainwater harvesting is a cost-effective solution that can be quickly implemented.
The practice is not widespread in Puerto Rico, where the government has prioritized centralized grids fed by freshwater, but these systems are popular in other island communities. Roughly 90 percent of homes in the US Virgin Islands have a cistern to collect rainwater, and the territory has building codes that require many new developments to include this infrastructure. (Barbados has similar codes.) In Hawaii, Honolulu County even offers a limited number of free rain barrel installations to residents. “There is nothing that can help the Caribbean region as quickly and as reliably as rainwater harvesting,” says Farah Nibbs, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s Department of Emergency and Disaster Health Systems. She also notes that governments should treat it ‘as part of the national water supply.’
She also says governments should help cover the costs to avoid putting onerous ‘economic and financial burdens on households.’ Yet, in Puerto Rico, the government offers no incentives or financial assistance. That’s left small organizations attempting to meet demand. Since 2010, local environmental nonprofit Plenitud Puerto Rico has donated and installed 73 rainwater harvesting systems for neighbors in Las Marías, a mountainous municipality on the western side of Puerto Rico. Executive codirector Owen Ingley estimates that the technology costs the group $500 to $2,000 for small, simple units and up to $5,000 for larger, more advanced ones with electric pumps. There are also additional costs to maintain the system, especially if a bad storm damages it, and to monitor water quality. The team recently installed a unit for a man in his eighties who lives alone and regularly experiences disruptions to his water supply. The system doesn’t provide drinking water, but it helps him meet other household needs such as flushing the toilet or filling his dog’s water bowl. “He’s a really sweet and talkative guy with gray hair and a big smile,” Ingley says.
Pérez Cordero, an at-large legislator in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, introduced a resolution in June that would order the Puerto Rican Natural Resources Committee to conduct a feasibility study on rainwater harvesting. That would include looking at how other Caribbean islands have made it work and adopting similar models for Puerto Rico. The proposal has gone nowhere, even as water insecurity mounts. Pérez Cordero’s New Progressive Party is in power, but he says his peers have often lacked the political will to be proactive and prioritize the environment.”
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Source: Wired Science
