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Two farms caught stealing water from CUC
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Posted on Jan 15 2009
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. discovered yesterday two farms allegedly illegally tapping into the water supply, affecting the utility company’s ability to provide potable water to the island, according to Bruce Megarr, CUC’s deputy director for the Water and Sewer Division.
Megarr said he discovered two 1.5-inch mains reportedly tapping into CUC’s water main, and based on the pressure and flow, the taps are using between 20 and 50 gallons per minute. The average household uses 130 to 230 gallons a day. The two farms’ accounts with CUC were closed in 2007 for failure to pay.
The theft will ultimately harm the people of the CNMI, Megarr said.
“One of the CNMI’s standards for potable water is maintaining 20 PSI 24-hours a day,” he said. “Given our limited supply, theft like this, or alleged theft like this, can break our back. We lose pressure and therefore I’m not in compliance.”
Not to mention the fact, he added, that honest, hardworking people are paying their bills to carry the load.
Another person nearby was allegedly found using a compression fitting whenever he needed to water his grounds. An illegal electric hookup at a construction site was also discovered, according to Megarr.
The alleged thefts were documented and the police were called, Megarr said, adding that it has been referred to investigators.
“This is significant. I’d say a public health threat,” he said. “It’s theft of service. We are going to treat it as such. More importantly, it’s theft to the people paying their bills.”
The deputy director said he knew there was a leak in the system or someone was stealing water. After doing some investigation in the area around Coral Ocean Point, he discovered the illegal taps.
