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WTF hits huge water supply on Tapuchao
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Posted on Feb 14 2005
Current drilling operations on Mt. Tapuchao has struck an underground water supply initially estimated to have the capacity to produce up to 288,000 gallons a day, which is 200 gallons per minute.
CNMI Water Task Force chair Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente said the well is a big boost in efforts to ensure continuous water supply on the island.
Most other wells only have a capacity of up to 35 to 60 gallons a minute or 50,000 to 86,000 gallons a day, Benavente said.
He also said the bottom of the well is 225 feet above sea level so the quality of the water should be excellent.
Drilling at the site, which was identified by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1997, started late last month. Water was struck 740 feet down on Feb. 8, 2005 at around 5:10pm, with 100 feet of water coming into the drill hole at 840 feet, said Benavente.
He said a 50-hp pump will be arriving soon to enable the task force to do some tests and determine the well’s water quality and quantity.
Near the end of the pumping test, a water sample will be taken and shipped to the U.S. mainland for analysis that will determine if it meets drinking water standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The success of this well follows closely the high level water found late last year at the first Mt. Tapuchao drill site. This well was drilled to a depth of 1,080 feet and had 290 feet of water in the drill hole. However, underwater cave-ins only allowed a final depth of 916 feet. This well will also be tested using the 50-hp pump and could prove equally productive.
The water task force has seven additional sites to drill on Mt. Tapuchao in order to define the boundaries of this water source and to develop this completely new well field on Saipan.
The WTF has set an aggressive drilling and well construction schedule that initially includes 100 exploratory wells. The WTF hopes to put 2 million gallons a day of additional good quality water into the utility water system before the end of 2005.
