Sanders to visit Puerto Rico, skip Women's Convention

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72. The unrelenting crisis in Puerto Rico is forcing people to drink dirty water

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/10/18/16489180/water-crisis-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria

If you need evidence that the situation in Puerto Rico is still dire, look no further than the reports this week of islanders who have been forced to turn to water mixed with raw sewage for hydration and hygiene.

It’s been almost a month since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, and municipal water services have still not been restored for about a third of the people on the island. Meanwhile, nearly half of the island’s sewage treatment plants remain out of service, so wastewater isn’t necessarily being purified as it runs through the island’s water system.

In desperation, Puerto Ricans are bathing and washing their clothes in rivers that have raw sewage pouring into them, the Associated Press reported, exposing them to bacteria like Leptospira, which causes leptospirosis. Some Puerto Ricans are even drinking from condemned wells and Superfund hazardous waste sites, which contain potentially dangerous chemicals.

The water crisis is directly related to, and reinforced by, the electricity problem. More than 80 percent of the island’s electricity customers still have no access to power after the electrical grid was wiped out in the storm. As my Vox colleagues Eliza Barclay and Brian Resnick explained, “No electricity means no power to pump water into homes, no water to bathe or flush toilets.” Electricity is needed to clean and distribute water too.

Even islanders who do have access to running water are being warned by the territory’s water utility to boil the water or use chlorine tablets first, since many water treatment plants are out of commission. But of course, with most Puerto Ricans without power in their homes, it’s not so easy to boil water.