Hotel to pour $500K into new water system

As part of efforts to preserve the pristine quality of Saipan’s beaches, Hotel Nikko Saipan disclosed plans to spend about $500,000 for the construction of a new reverse osmosis plant and improvement of the hotel’s water treatment and disposal system.

Nikko vice president Hideo Nishigori said the project is being undertaken under the direction of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Division of Environmental Quality.

According to Nishigori, the planned improvements would include the construction of a new RO plant, storage tanks and pumps and additional water wells at the Paupau Terrace across the hotel. The project will also cover the closure of the existing RO brine disposal system and the conversion of old water wells into injection wells.

Hotel officials and guests held a groundbreaking ceremony at the Paupau Terrace site yesterday morning.

Besides improving the reliability of the hotel’s water supply, the new water system aims to eliminate the discharge of brine—the salt byproduct of the RO treatment—into the sea.

“Currently, the hotel mixes RO brine with sea water and discharges it into a series of complex ponds and streams within the hotel property. The brine percolates into the ground as it meanders through the streams and ponds and some of it is discharged into the lagoon with permission from EPA and DEQ under the hotel’s existing National Pollutant Discharge Eliminations Systems permit,” Nishigori said.

Once the new water system is in place, the existing system will be decommissioned. The new system includes injection wells through which brine will be discharged underground to mix with salt water.

Nishigori explained that the new system would entail taking brackish water underground, so it could be processed into drinking water. He said the brine would be injected into salt water, which settle below brackish water.

“The RO brine and salt water are heavier than the brackish water above and disperses without adversely affecting the brackish water or lagoon water quality,” he said.

“Although the RO brine is not considered a significant pollutant, the new system is expected to help improve lagoon water quality in the areas near the existing brine discharges,” he added.

Environmentalists and tourism industry players have expressed concern over the occasional contamination of beach sites not only on Saipan, but also on Managaha Island. The beaches serve as an economic treasure, with the CNMI’s economy heavily reliant on the tourism sector.

Sometime last year, the EPA allotted over $300,000 to the CNMI for the protection of beaches.