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Limited water supply, possible outage this weekend
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Posted on Mar 24 2012
By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
Reporter
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. alerted yesterday its customers in the areas surrounding Fina Sisu that they will experience an 11-hour water outage beginning Friday 8pm to Saturday 6am.
Other areas expected to be affected by the service interruptions include Chalan Lau Lau, Middle Road, and Chalan Pale Arnold to the Old Japanese Jail.
Reduced service hours is also expected in the area of Beach Road from Microl Toyota to Naked Fish.
In a statement, CUC said its water operations crew discovered last week that its Kannat Tabla tank was nearly empty due to a motor failure at a booster station. Since then immediate steps have been taken to correct system problems; however, time is needed to correct the problem and refill the tank. Water interruptions and outages in the same areas and villages were also announced last week.
CUC deputy executive director Alan Fletcher explained yesterday the latest cause of this weekend’s interruptions. “While the same area as a few weeks ago, this problem was caused by a combination of moving water between zones to back-fill a shortage in another area due to a leak. In addition, there was a separate mechanical failure that contributed to the tank not refilling,” he told Saipan Tribune.
Fletcher pointed out that CUC remains committed to achieving 24-hour supply on Saipan this year. “Unfortunately, as we ‘push’ water supply and hours out, any weak points in piping or pumping can become stressed, resulting in repairs. CUC will continue to work on these issues throughout the weekend to restore service as quickly as possible,” he added.
Part of CUC’s efforts in achieving the 24-hour water supply in 2012 is to move water between system zones to various tanks. The goal is to operate the water system by having customers served by the water stored in CUC tanks and not direct-fed from wells.
Call CUC’s 24-hour trouble desk at 235-0282/2282 for emergency requests.
