Collaborative Research: RAPID: Assessment of Water Quality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

The University Of Texas Health Science Center At Houston, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

PI: Fernando L. Rosario-Ortiz Collaborative Research: RAPID: Assessment of Water Quality in Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico (PR) on September 20th, 2017. This hurricane's legacy continues to harm many Puerto Rican citizens because of the devastating impact to this Island's infrastructure and the continuing struggle to rebuild it. Given the impacts that Hurricane Maria had on the water infrastructure, a unique and important opportunity exists to conduct a detailed evaluation of water quality issues related to the restoration of potable water service. There are two main concerns. The first concern is regarding the water quality associated with centralized water treatment and distribution that is governed by the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA). In these systems, treatment issues associated with start-up and return to normalcy will likely cause unpredictable water quality that manifest itself in higher levels of potential pathogens, disinfection byproducts and other organic contaminants through water distribution. In addition, the integrity of the distribution system could be compromised by changes in water quality that mobilize metals and potential leakage points. These conditions result in an increased population exposure risk to potentially toxic or pathogenic agents, with potential for wide spread public health impacts. There is also the concern with the smaller community systems, that are not associated with PRASA. Here, contamination of surface water, combined with the collapse of the infrastructure, could have damaging effects. The main objective of this RAPID proposal is to conduct a systematic survey and evaluation of water quality in several Puerto Rican potable water systems, focusing on both chemical and microbiological components. The main outcome from this project will be a point-of-use water quality retrospective of the near-term aftermath of Hurricane Maria, including an analysis of potential relationships between the chemistry and microbiology compromised water treatment and distribution systems. The proposed research will provide information on potential relationships chemical and microbiological agents in a seriously compromised tropical setting. Given the scope of water samples collected, this project will the engineering community to better understand water related exposures relevant to public health.