99.5 percent of Puerto Rico's population has been served water that does not meet the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA).

According to a report released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), about three million people on the island have been drinking water containing carcinogenic or harmful materials such as lead, copper, arsenic, nitrate, among others.

The report informs that, of the 406 Water Systems of the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (AAA), 374 are in violation of the SDWA.

Among the violations listed by AAA are violations of the lead and copper rules, which are 607 in total, and affected about 3,379,808 individuals, violations of the rule of combined products to disinfect water (explaining that although it may be beneficial to use chlorine for cleaning the water, the chemical can react with other elements in the water creating harmful products), with a total of 252 violations, which have affected 2,573,277 , including violations of the rules of arsenic, which have been two and affected 1,064,755.

According to the information detailed in the report, the plants with the largest populations include the Metropolitan, which serves a population of 1,064,730; the Ponce system, which serves a population of 153,092; the one of Mayagüez, with a population of 181,972; and Aguadilla with a population of 132,716, among others.

At the same time, they detail the health risks of these elements, including cancer, abortion and pregnancy defects, diarrhea, fertility problems, cardiovascular problems, among others.

Erik Olson, director of the NRDC's Health Program, said that Puerto Rico's water system 'is failing. It requires a serious investment to ensure safe and clean drinking water'.

Although the most common infractions were due to the lack of analysis of water quality and to not report failures in the system, more than two-thirds of the population - 2.4 million Puerto Ricans - were supplied with water systems which suffer from illegal levels of pollutants.

'Puerto Rico suffers from a water crisis like no other in the US The conditions of our drinking water are so poor that we have to rethink how to monitor their quality, as well as their treatment and the related infrastructure that supplies said resource,' added David Ortiz, director of 'The Bridge: Latin Link of Climate Action.'

Given the situation, NRDC recommended to the AAA, as well as to the Fiscal Control Board, to develop projects to improve the country's water infrastructure.

'This investment would protect public health and provide much-needed work. Safe and reliable water infrastructure would also attract investors needed to stimulate the island's economy,' the organization said in the report.

If you want to read the report you can access it below.