Hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico wake up with no running water as rationing begins: “It’s brutal”

Hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico’s capital and surrounding communities woke up without running water as a massive rationing measure took effect Friday. It comes amid a severe drought on top of shortages due to infrastructure issues on the island.

“It’s brutal,” San Juan resident Gloriany Baba told CBS News in Spanish. “It’s unbelievable to live through this today.”

Residents were seen filling up jugs and buckets with water ahead of the rationing, which affects more than 180,000 customer accounts — meaning households and businesses — in San Juan and six other municipalities. Customers were divided into two groups that will alternate not having water for at least 48 hours at a time.

Government officials have not said when the rationing will end and have warned the outages could be extended to 72 hours at a time.

In San Juan, July was the driest month in more than 120 years and the second hottest on record. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, about 36% of Puerto Rico is facing a severe drought, and another 32% is in a moderate drought.

“It’s not going to take one tropical system. It’s going to take many tropical systems and the winter precipitation for us to get out of this drought crisis,” said Ada Monzon, the chief meteorologist at local station WAPA-TV.

The drought has put even more pressure on a water system already strained by decades of underinvestment, deferred maintenance and aging infrastructure.

Puerto Rico’s water authority says roughly 65% of the water it produces is lost or goes unbilled, much of it through leaks and aging pipes.

The island’s governor, Jenniffer González, has acknowledged years of neglect, but blamed the current problem on the weather. 

Communities in San Juan have documented at least 118 days in 2026 with repeated water outages before the rationing measures began. Service has been intermittent and has shut off for full days and multiple days at a time. Residents have also complained about very low pressure.

Low-income Puerto Ricans are spending money on bottled water, and the elderly are relying on neighbors and family to carry water to them.

Puerto Rico previously implemented rationing measures in 2020 and in 2015, when some 400,000 utility customers received water only every third day.