In Puerto Rico, an Innovative Water Treatment System Fortifies a Community
Key takeaways
- Republish Laura Sofía García Canto, a program manager at Plenitud, works on the water treatment system installation at the nonprofit in Las Marías, Puerto Rico.
- The heavy downpours that bring roughly 90 inches of rainfall to Las Marías, Puerto Rico, each year subside in the first few weeks of December, the start of the dry season.
- But the precipitation causes more than iridescence in the sky.
Why this matters: environmental and climate reporting with long-term consequences.
Republish Laura Sofía García Canto, a program manager at Plenitud, works on the water treatment system installation at the nonprofit in Las Marías, Puerto Rico. Related As a Colorado Aquifer Runs Low, Dangerous Heavy Metals Threaten Rural Communities’ Drinking Water Nearly One-Fifth of Americans Are Consuming Water With High Levels of Nitrates In Rural Puerto Rico, Water Systems Depend on Volunteers—and Threatened Federal Grants Share This Article Republish Most Popular Plugging Away at the Millions of Derelict Oil and Gas Wells in the US $370 Million Payout US Senators Investigate $370 Million IRS Payout to Cheniere Energy Reporting for this story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. Sarah Mattalian is a 2025 Reporting Fellow.
The heavy downpours that bring roughly 90 inches of rainfall to Las Marías, Puerto Rico, each year subside in the first few weeks of December, the start of the dry season. Even as the rainfall decreases, rain still comes on a near-daily basis, often in short bursts that cause mist to rise from the tropical mountainside forests. The rain makes it easy for rainbows to form above the hills where the municipality is nestled.
But the precipitation causes more than iridescence in the sky. The region where Las Marías is located, on the west side of the archipelago’s main island, about 90 miles from San Juan, is elevated and prone to landslides. Heavy rainfall cascades into swollen rivers, carrying nutrient-dense soil with it. Water that could be used for drinking and agriculture picks up sediment, making water filtration—already a challenge for most rural communities across Puerto Rico—even harder.