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TO SOLVE DANDAN WATER PROBLEMS:
Riegel: Leak detection repairs, tank building in the works
Efforts are underway to solve the ‘low-pressure’ water service in the Dandan residential area, said acting Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director John Riegel.
Residents in the area have complained of low water pressure or no water service at all.
“We’ve focused a lot of our efforts on leak detection and repair in Dandan, and we are looking at doing a water balance in Dandan so we know pretty much our unaccounted-for water,” Riegel said. “We have plans to do that islandwide but we started and are focusing on Dandan now because it’s a big service area.”
Riegel said most water pressure complaints come from the homestead area. He explained that the land elevation of the homestead is fairly close to that of the tank. “So if the tank is not all the way full, they…feel the low pressure,” he said.
“Oftentimes, the tank will draw down because it’s serving a big area and because we are not able to augment that supply from Papago,” he said.
To solve this, Riegel said they are building the Papago water tank, which will hold 300,000 gallons of water and is 42 feet in diameter and 40 feet tall.
“They are just finishing the foundation preparation. So the tank erector should be here soon…I would say he should be here in August,” Riegel said.
Other tanks that CUC and the CNMI Water Task Force are looking to replace are the Gualo Rai, San Vicente, and “NMC” water tanks.
