Malae: 24-hr water for Saipan nears 95 pct.

Customers of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. could soon enjoy uninterrupted water supply, according to outgoing executive director Abe Utu Malae, who said that 24-hour water for Saipan is approaching 95 percent this month.

In his exit report to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, Malae also highlighted the many successes of CUC in both water and wastewater services under his tenure. He conceded, though, that these achievements will be tenuous since the infrastructure still requires several improvements to truly ensure a reliable water and wastewater system.

Based on CUC’s goals, it must achieve 24/7 water supply for Saipan by November 2012. It also targets to reduce energy consumption in water and wastewater by 15 percent by November this year.

Malae attributed the near-achievement of 24/7 water supply to the coordinated teamwork of the water and wastewater division, Water Task Force, the billing section, and even the Saipan Mayor’s Office. He disclosed that leak detection, repair, and, most recently, a stepped-up effort to locate and eliminate water theft greatly helped their efforts.

Malae also reported that so far, the reduction in energy consumption for water and wastewater is about 10 percent—shy of a few points from the target 15 percent by November.

He said energy consumption is reduced by many methods, including installing floating aerators for the wastewater treatment plants, well isolation that reduces pumping and chlorination costs, lowering production through leak repairs, and theft control.

The single most important improvement that will equally realize both goals for water and wastewater is the reduction of water losses, or so called “non-revenue” water.

Malae estimated that about 70 percent of the water produced by CUC is non-revenue, which means only 30 percent of the water produced is billed. He said non-revenue water is a combination of three main causes: leaks, billing deficiencies, and theft.

He said that CUC has made tremendous progress in finding and repairing leaks this past year.

Next month, a major CUC-Water Task Force project in Papago will be completed, placing all Papago on 24-hour water service. Next to Chalan Lau Lau, Papago was the second largest of the remaining non-24 hour service areas.

Significant progress was also noted in CUC’s billing efforts, replacing thousands of outdated meters with “smart meters” that result in actual, metered use. This is in addition to a new billing software that results in the elimination of inefficiencies in the system.

Malae also highlighted the large number of water theft cases that were referred to the Office of the Attorney General and prosecuted. CUC also helped repair and bring back online some agricultural wells and piping system that had fallen into disrepair. Kagman, he said, benefited from these efforts.