Water

Water Safe to Drink at Puerto Rico Superfund Site

EPA tests water for bacteria and volatile organic compounds
Nov. 1, 2017

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the water is safe to drink at the Dorado Groundwater Superfund site in Puerto Rico. EPA tested the water and found the levels of contaminants to be below acceptable levels.

After Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans were in desperate need of clean drinking water. Because of this, locals began drinking water from potentially contaminated wells on the Superfund site. EPA advised against this.

Recently, the agency tested for bacteria and volatile organic compounds in the water. The microbial tests came back negative, and nitrate and nitrite samples were below drinking water standards.

According to a CNN report, some wells on the Superfund site actually collected water from an aqueduct system that is not sourced from the groundwater on the contaminated site, and other wells use a mixture of this water and groundwater pulled from the site. 

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