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Water firms asked to supply CUC
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Posted on Jun 09 2004
The Commonwealth’s Utilities Corp. will begin to buy water from private companies to address the current water shortage and ensure a 24-hour water supply on Saipan.
“We ask all companies to submit proposals. We will purchase water from them so that we can get rid of this lingering water problem,” said CUC board chair Herman P. Sablan yesterday.
Sablan said the board has instructed the CUC management to issue a Request for Proposal to begin the process.
At the same time, he said that CUC will be issuing another RFP for the hiring of a consultant to evaluate the proposals.
“We’re pushing for this. We want to get a 24-hour water [supply] faster,” he said.
He said the project is open to on-island and off-island companies.
Further, Sablan said he will revive the desalination project proposal. “I will revive this again. No one else defended this project last time but look what’s happening now. There’s no adequate water. Desalination will solve this.”
CUC had selected a Korean firm, Taekwang Heavy Equipment, from among four proposers to do the desalination project but due to alleged irregularities, the RFP was later withdrawn.
The CUC last week said that water outages occur because there is not enough water in CUC’s reservoirs. It said that most water wells could not generate enough water to supply the whole island.
It said the water level in reservoirs supplying Garapan was down to about six ft. from 31 ft. In the Tanapag area, the water level was down to five ft. from the normal 11 ft.
Meantime, board members asked the CUC management Friday to come up with recommendations on how to solve the current problem.
“Don’t just tell us the problems. Present solutions,” said the board.
Normally, CUC can produce up to 11 million gallons a day during rainy season. During dry season, the production is reduced to 8.5 million gallons.
The CUC has acknowledged that aside from the poor water supply, it also has poorly maintained systems, significantly contributing to the problem.
The board said that some pumps are actually full of sand, instead of water.
