House bill would require rapid response to water service breakdowns

Rep. José Hernández Concepción

By THE STAR STAFF

As a measure to help quickly resolve interruptions in drinking water service, Rep. José “Cheito” Hernández Concepción has filed House Bill 1334, which obliges the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) to inspect, within a maximum term of 24 hours, any breakdown that interrupts the service.

The legislation also states that repair work must begin within 48 hours of the reported failure, and enables the creation of collaborative agreements between the public corporation and municipalities to address breakdowns.

Similarly, any interruption of potable water service attributable to PRASA that exceeds 24 consecutive hours will result in an automatic credit to the subscriber equivalent to 20% of the monthly base charge. For each additional 24-hour interruption period, up to a maximum of 100 hours, the credit will be 100%.

“This measure addresses a real need faced by PRASA customers,” said Hernández Concepción, who chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Commission of the island House of Representatives. “We are aware that the water infrastructure is nearing obsolescence, but there is still a responsibility. We understand that breakdowns can occur, and what the people want is for them to be addressed quickly. 

This bill implements a series of compliance metrics for service customers. It represents progress in protecting the rights of drinking water service consumers, not only in San Juan, but throughout the island.”

Also under the legislation, PRASA will establish and maintain an updated interactive Transparency Portal with public access, in which it will publish on a monthly basis the average repair time for breakdowns, the inventory of open and closed breakdowns, water loss metrics, the progress of ongoing infrastructure projects, a breakdown of the use of federal funds and the level of overall compliance with the established operational metrics.