Land use and water pollution in Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, previous water-quality analyses have indicated that most surface-water bodies, as well as ground water, are polluted with both organic and inorganic substances. Contributions to water-quality deterioration come from point and nonpoint sources. These pose a threat on a densely populated island. Urban and industrial development occurred rapidly with a lag in the required infrastructure for expansion. Water pollution has been a by-product of this process and is regarded as the most serious environmental problem on the island. This study examines water-quality parameters in three hydrological basins. It attempts to determine how extensive a problem it is and how the concentration of pollutants compare in different land-use situations. A total of 33 sampling sites distributed among the three watersheds was chosen. Fifteen water-quality parameters were examined. All of the water bodies in spatial association with the land use considered presented detectable concentrations of the selected water-quality parameters