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

飓风玛丽亚于2017年9月20日在波多黎各登陆。这场飓风摧毁了波多黎各的大部分水收集、处理和供应系统。鉴于这种影响，在恢复饮用水服务期间对水质进行详细评价是一个独特而重要的机会。关于修复工作，有两个主要问题。第一个问题是关于波多黎各渡槽和下水道管理局管理的集中水处理和分配系统的水质。随着系统恢复全面运行，人类病原体、消毒副产物以及其他有机和重金属污染物有可能被释放到水中。这种释放有可能造成广泛的公共卫生影响。第二个问题是恢复与PRASA无关的小型社区供水系统。在这里，水源污染到这些小规模的分配系统，也可能导致公共卫生影响。这项研究的结果将有助于评估潜在的健康影响，潜在地确定污染源，并帮助社区了解如何更好地保护供水。这项快速评估建议的主要目标是对波多黎各几个饮用水系统的水质进行系统的调查和评价，重点是化学和微生物成分。该项目的主要成果将是对玛丽亚飓风近期后果的用水点水质进行回顾，包括分析化学和微生物损害水处理和分配系统之间的潜在关系。拟议的研究将提供关于在严重受损的热带环境中化学剂和微生物剂的潜在关系的信息。鉴于所收集水样的范围，该项目将使工程界更好地了解与公共健康有关的与水有关的暴露。

Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20th, 2017. This hurricane has devastated much of the Puerto Rico's water collection, treatment, and supply system. Given this impact, a unique and important opportunity exists to conduct a detailed evaluation of water quality during the restoration of potable water service. There are two main concerns regarding this restoration effort. The first concern is regarding the water quality of the centralized water treatment and distribution system governed by the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA). As the system returns to full operation, there is the potential for human pathogens, disinfection byproducts, and other organic and heavy metal contaminants to be released into the water. Such releases have the potential for wide-spread public health impacts. The second concern is in the restoration of smaller scale community water supply systems that are not associated with PRASA. Here, contamination of the source water to these small-scale distribution systems, could also result public health impacts. The results of this research will help to evaluate potential health impacts, potentially identify sources of contamination, and help communities understand how to better protect the water supply. 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.