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KES students tour CUC’s water system
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Posted on Feb 28 2000
The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation recently gave students of the Koblerville Elementary School a tour of its water system facilities as part of educating children on how water is processed before it reaches their faucets.
The utility uses the rainwater as soon as it falls. After it is pooled in the runway catchment, it is next pumped to a separate holding tank where it is filtered through sand. The students were given hands-full of sand to get a feeling how sand catches debris, such as grass that mixes with the water while at the runway.
After the water is filtered through the fine sand, it is pumped to a third holding tank where it is treated with a chlorine gas. The gas remains in the water on a 24-hour basis killing all harmful bacteria.
“How do you know that the chlorine is really in the water?” a smart girl asked when she saw that the gas is not visible. Utility employees Melvin Tudela and Glenn Dakito explained that they treat the water seven days a week, 24 hours a day and then go back to each treatment site to conduct field tests.
“How many times a year do you kids get a report card?” Dikito asked the students, “Only four times,” he said. “But I am tested everyday, and I receive a report card every week. I’ve been treating water for nearly 20-years in the military and now here in Saipan,” he explained.
According to the utility crews, the CUC also operates a water quality laboratory that is certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The men in the lab also double check the water quality and treatment once a week. They take water samples from the rainwater catchment tank, from water wells, along the pipelines, from
the customer’s homes, following the water system all the way to the end of the line, sampling the water. If treatment is not sufficient, chlorine gas is immediately added and a public notice is immediately issued.
The utility offers school tours of its water system, water quality laboratory, two wastewater treatment centers and the power operations. Contact Advisor Pamela Mathis at 235-7025 or fax 235-6145 for tour arrangements.
