CUC Task Force surveys 3 villages
A task force from the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. walks door-to-door Wednesday through Friday, surveying every lot in Navy Hill, Sugar King and China Town.
The team searches for water leaks, overflowing water catchment tanks, broken pipelines, and they chart each lot for water meters, tanks and water management equipment. The task force initially began this project in March in Garapan where more than 100 lots were surveyed.
Customers were asked about water operations, whether household leaks are fixed, their opinions about the cost of desalination, and provided assistance to fix leaks. With the Garapan surveys complete, the CUC task force moved Wednesday to Upper Navy Hill.
Utility workers meet as early as 4:30am. Two-man teams walk door-to-door mapping every lot, building waterline, noting whether buildings have water tanks, pumps, meters, and especially noting whether there are water leaks.
When leaks are identified, the CUC Leak Detection crews are radioed. Citations are issued that allow homeowners no more than five days to repair leaks or have services disconnected. Alternately, the community utility provides free fix-a-leak assistance.
Customers are advised exactly what type of parts to purchase, and CUC returns to teach customers how to repair household leaks from this point forward.
Eight CUC teams on Wednesday mapped and charted 76 lots in Navy Hill, charting water tanks and searching for leaks at government housing units, schools, including more than 58 private homes. Crews acknowledged fixing leaks at a housing unit occupied by the utility’s power generation employees, as well as assisting teachers at Whispering Palms School to install float values in tanks that help prevent wasteful water overflows.
Yesterday, the teams moved to lower Navy Hill, anticipating inspections of 39 lots and 48 buildings. By the end of the week, the task force will chart another 172 lots (194 buildings) in China Town.