Is it safe to drink water from the public water supply on Vieques?
Yes. Most of the residents of Vieques get their drinking water through a pipeline supply system from the mainland of Puerto Rico. Water from this system was tested by the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and by an environmental company hired by the Navy. ATSDR reviewed and evaluated the results of all of those tests and concluded that the public drinking water supply is not being impacted by the bombing range activities and is safe to drink. In the past, residents obtained their drinking water from wells. Water from private wells, as well as community supply wells, has been tested by PRDOH, EPA and the Navy. Although little water quality data is available prior to 1995, the location and flow patterns of the groundwater suggest that the available data can be used to evaluate past water quality as well. On that basis, ATSDR believes that the water supplied by the water wells on Vieques was not affected by contaminants , except as d
