As Lito has saltiest tap water

Thirteen-year old Maryana Gramlich, a 7th grader at Hopwood Junior High School, had just found out that the village of As Lito contains the highest amount of salt in its tap water on Saipan.

Gramlich revealed her findings during Hopwood’s Science Fair yesterday afternoon held at the school’s cafeteria.

Entitled “Which Village Has the Saltiest Tap Water?” her project was among 40 of the hundreds of entries selected for the finals of the science fair set today.

She said, based on her study As Lito’s tap water contains five grams of salt per one liter of tap water. San Vicente followed with 1.8 grams of salt, while Tanapag and Susupe shared the third highest amount of salt in its tap water with 1.5 grams.

Dan Dan and Chalan Piao also shared fourth place in her research. She said each liter of tap water from the three villages contained 1.0 gram of salt.

Gramlich, however, said the village of Capitol Hill has only 0.25-gram of salt, which is equal to the amount of salt found in any potable water on the island. “Capitol Hill’s tap water can be considered potable,” she said.

The 7th grade student said she gathered a liter of tap water from the seven villages and evaporated the water through boiling. Then the end product was salt and she weighed them accordingly. She said she gathered water from homes, restaurants, and gas stations.

The young student said she thought of measuring the salt content of tap water from the different villages on Saipan when she was doing the chores in her house. She was looking at the faucet while washing the dishes when she realized the importance of clean tap water in the Commonwealth.

“Too much salt in the tap water is bad. Some people cook with the water. Shower with it and clean their dishes.

Gramlich said she is encouraging the community to be aware of the salt content in their tap water. She said it would be best if people could identify or be informed of what type of salt it is in their water. “I’ve tasted some tap water and I know that the salt in it is not ordinary.”

The girl from Hopwood said she would like to contact the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to compare the results of her study with what the sole utility company in the CNMI has found out in its own research. “I’m sure they have their figures too,” she said.