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Drinking water updates
SAIPAN
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. now report that water supply has been stabilized on Saipan.
This comes soon after CUC customers of the Saipan public water system were notified on Oct. 27, that due to Super Typhoon Yutu, the water system had been disrupted and the risk of contamination by coliform bacteria was uncertain.
CUC had strongly recommended that customers boil the CUC Saipan water before drinking.
Based on the latest information from CUC, between Nov. 7, 2018 and Nov. 20, 2018, CUC personnel tested 90 samples for coliform and E. coli bacteria from all areas of the Saipan water system. All samples contained adequate levels of disinfection and none of the samples contained coliform bacteria.
With the Saipan water system providing daily water service to most of the island, it is no longer necessary to boil the water before drinking. The notice was distributed on Dec. 6.
TINIAN
CUC also reported that the water supply on Tinian has been stabilized.
CUC’s Tinian customers were notified on Oct. 27 about the water system being disrupted by Yutu. A similar recommendation to boil CUC Tinian water before drinking was also issued.
Between Nov. 6 and Nov. 28, CUC personnel tested 11 samples for coliform and E.coli bacteria from all areas of the Tinian water system. All samples contained adequate levels of disinfection. One sample collected on Nov. 6, 2018, did contain total coliform, however a second sample collected on Nov. 9, 2018, from the same site was free of coliform bacteria. All of the other 10 samples were free of bacteria.
With the Tinian water system providing daily water service to the entire island, it is no longer necessary to boil the water before drinking.
CUC urged the public to share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You may do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
For any further information and/or comments, contact the CUC Water Division at (670) 322-5030/1. (Saipan Tribune)
