Latest info on status of Saipan’s power, water, wastewater

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. continues the recovery and restoration of Saipan’s power and water systems with the assistance of local, regional and federal partners. Here is the latest information about Saipan’s power, water and wastewater capabilities.

Power
Islandwide recovery efforts are carried out by an international team dedicated to the restoration of Saipan’s generation, transmission, and distribution capabilities.

All of the primary lines on each of Saipan’s eight feeders are projected to be online by the end of September and the majority of Saipan should be online by the end of October. Customers near the primary lines will be among the first to receive power while restoration will take longer for customers living farther from the primary lines and those with more damage.

Personnel
CUC Saipan linemen are currently supported by their peers from Rota, Tinian, Rhode Island, Palau, Yap, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Guam.

Generation
CUC is currently able to generate 31.1MW of electricity as primary power generation has migrated from Power Plant 4 in Puerto Rico to Power Plant 1 in Lower Base. As the restoration of Saipan’s main production facility continues, we expect another 20MW to come online within the next two weeks.

Power Plant 4
Power Plant 4 is currently able to produce 6.1MW of electricity from Generators 2 (2.1MW), 3 (2.1MW), 7 (.95MW), and 9 (.95MW). The plant is currently standing in reserve.

Power Plant 1
Power Plant 1 currently produces 10MW of electricity from Generator 5 with an additional 15MW ready to use from Generators 1 (5.5MW), 2(4.0MW), and 3(5.5MW). Restoration of the consoles and generators continues, leading to additional generation capability in the near future. Generator 6 (10MW) is being dried and a test run is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 10. Generator 7 (10MW) is also drying and is scheduled for testing next week.

Distribution
CUC and its partners from the Guam Power Authority, Yap Utilities, Palau, Kosrae and Pohnpei have erected a power poles in the villages of Garapan, Puerto Rico, Chalan Kiya, Lower Base, Navy Hill, As Lito, San Vicente, Chalan Laulau, Kagman, Capital Hill, Tanapag, San Roque, Lower Base, Oleai, Dandan, and the vicinity of the airport.

The underground cable from Power Plant 1 to the Chalan Kiya Substation has been activated. As a result, the Saipan International Airport and vast water production resources are now on island power. CUC estimates we have energized 35-percent of our total network.

Transformer recovery
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken on the responsibility of recovering and disposing of damaged transformers. As of 2pm, Sept. 8, the CUC/EPA Transformer Team collected a total of 456 downed transformers.

Water
CUC now provides limited water service to nearly every village on Saipan. As our ability to provide power to the island increases, our ability to energize wells will increase water production.

Until CUC is able to energize each of Saipan’s 150 wells, our Water Division is working to deliver islandwide water service, albeit in a limited capacity, using a network of generators from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Limited water service operation testing
Water is pumped into our reservoirs overnight through a combination of pumps powered by CUC and by the generators provided by FEMA. Every morning, our engineers and operations staff record the water level inside of the tanks and calculate how many gallons of water per minute our wells are able to produce.

When water from the tanks is released into the system, our engineers and operations staff record the water level drop inside of the tank and calculate how much water it takes to pressurize the lines. Once this happens, our crews continue to monitor the water level inside of the tanks to determine how much water is used by customers inside the service area.

While this happens, our crews also monitor the service area for leaks and dispatch repair crews to problem areas. In order to isolate the service areas, the same crews are responsible for driving through the villages, opening and closing valves.
As each reservoir serves multiple areas, our crews must repeat this process multiple times to ensure that all of our customers receive limited water service.

Water testing areas
Engineers and Operations personnel continue testing Gualo Rai and Garapan.

Given the challenges to water production and distribution posed by Typhoon Soudelor, it is critical for the community to immediately notify CUC of any water leaks. To report water leaks, contact the CUC Customer Call Center at 664-4CUC (4282).

Forecasting
CUC Engineering and Operations personnel continue testing the villages of Upper Chalan Kiya, Garapan, and As Perdido. As engineers and operations personnel receive results, an established schedule for limited water service will be released.

Safety precaution
As a precaution, all water provided by CUC will need to be sanitized through the use of chlorine bleach or boiling before it can be used by the community.

FOR BOILING: Bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one minute, and let it cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.

FOR CHLORINATING: Alternatively, customers may also disinfect their water with bleach using the following measurements:

For more information, please visit our website www.cucgov.org or contact our 24-Hour Customer Call Center at 664-4CUC (664-4282). (CUC)