Marie Vazquez

Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Authority

The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority ("the Authority") is a public corporation and governmental instrumentality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Authority owns and operates the public water supply and wastewater systems ("the Systems") of the Commonwealth, making the Authority the sole provider of these services throughout Puerto Rico. The Authority's core mission is to provide quality water and sewer service at the lowest possible cost to its customers. To achieve this mission, PRASA envisions that it must strive to be a World-Class Utility. Therefore, the Authority is committed to provide an efficient, safe, reliable and high-quality service to its customers to protect public health, safeguard environmental quality, and promote social sustainability. The Authority serves a population of approximately 3.5 million residents plus approximately 4 million visitors annually. The Authority is the sole provider of water and wastewater services in Puerto Rico, providing about 98% and 59% of Puerto Rico's population, respectively. While this is positive in terms of sales of services, it also makes the Authority a critical entity for the wellbeing of Puerto Rico. The effective operation of this vital public service is essential to the health and economic prosperity of Puerto Rico and its citizens. The Authority serves 1.3 million customers and the System consisting of 116 water filtration plants, 51 wastewater treatment plants, 1,723 pump stations, 2,186 tanks, 299 water supply wells, over 20,000 miles of pipelines, and 6 ocean outfalls. Because Puerto Rico is an island with varied topography, isolated demographic distributions, and a diverse mix of users; the Authority has a mostly fragmented and localized system of water sources, treatment and delivery systems. As a result, the Authority has many more treatment facilities than most utilities serving a similar number of customers.