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‘CUC maintains 100 pct. level of 24-hour water supply’
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has maintained providing a 24-hour water supply to 100 percent of Saipan residents, which for the first time was achieved by CUC last August.
CUC executive director Gary P. Camacho, in an interview with Saipan Tribune last Thursday, said they have been providing the 24-hour water supply to 100 percent level for quite some time and that they continue to maintain that.
“Our efforts are to remain at 100 percent,” said Camacho, pointing out that they are not reducing their efforts.
He said the primary goal is to get the 24-hour water supply to the consumers and that they completed that.
“Now the idea is to address the inefficiencies,” the executive director said, adding that they anticipate to continue forward.
He disclosed that right now even during peak hours, their 13 water tanks are primarily 85 percent full.
“We have sufficient supply,” he said, citing that they readjusted their programs in water and wastewater by addressing the leaks immediately as opposed from compiling them and addressing them a little time.
“The approach is the same as power. If there is an issue we come out and try to attack it,” Camacho said.
He said there is a number of leaks that don’t necessarily get addressed immediately, but that’s only because the crews are addressing other leaks.
Camacho said they are trying to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
In his presentation before the U.S. District Court for the NMI last month, CUC water/wastewater division manager Gary Byra cited a graph showing that, for the month of July 2018, 96 percent of the island’s residents had 24-hour water supply, which then improved to 100 percent in August.
Byra said the same graph showed that, in 2006, only 26 percent of the population had 24-hour water supply; that grew to 54 percent of the island’s population in 2007.
District Court designated judge David O. Carter commended the staff and officials of CUC for having 24/7 water supply for the first time on the island.
Last February, Carter raised concerns as to why some parts of the island have no 24-hour water supply as he then directed CUC and other parties to put up plans to resolve the problem.
