SAIPAN — Commonwealth Utilities Corporation Executive Director Kevin Watson and Utility Coordinator Joel Hoepner said Saturday that Power Plant 3 was being energized as they spoke, a development that will bring water to a significant portion of south Saipan that has had little to no service since Typhoon Sinlaku made landfall 10 days ago.
Hoepner said the wells powered by Plant 3 will serve the Dandan, NMC, As Terlaje and Isley tank service areas. The Isley field alone supplies water to Koblerville, San Antonio, Afetna, Chalan Kanoa, Susupe, Oleai and up to Quartermaster Road. The Dandan tank serves Airport Road, As Lito and into Koblerville. The NMC tank will serve As Terlaje Hill down to the federal courthouse and Gualo Rai.
“It’s a significant portion of the south half of the island,” Hoepner said. “We’re excited getting these wells on in Isley. It’s going to be a large volume of water that we haven’t had yet.”
In Kagman, four wells are online and a new one-million-gallon concrete tank is nearly full. CUC said it is awaiting water test results before releasing water into the Kagman system, a process expected within the next 36 to 40 hours. In the meantime, the five wells filling the tank will be diverted to feed sections of Kagman directly.
The Kanat Tabla tank sustained storm damage when the roof shifted and partially fell into the tank, but residents will still receive service through a bypass booster pump once the NMC tank is back online.
A leak that drained the Gualo Rai tank overnight was repaired Saturday and levels are being rebuilt. A fire at the Saipan recycling plant forced CUC to pull water from the Puerto Rico tank for firefighting, temporarily reducing supply to that service area.
Calhoun tank, which serves Navy Hill, Chinatown and Upper Miha, provided water to residents for the first time since the typhoon on Friday and Saturday before being scaled back due to the fire impact on the interconnected Puerto Rico system.
Watson said the Guam Power Authority sent its first assessment team to Saipan Saturday morning and was already conducting field evaluations. GPA will send a minimum of five teams of five workers each, along with bucket trucks and augers, to help restore power lines. A five-day assessment period is planned before additional crews and equipment arrive.
Rota is now 100 percent restored on both power and water. Rota is mobilizing five line workers to Tinian and three water staff to assist Saipan. Tinian’s power plant remains offline with approximately 240 poles down. Saipan has more than 600 poles down.
Watson said the goal is to replace all fallen wooden poles with concrete. CUC currently has 100 concrete poles in storage and GPA has approximately 250 available. Additional orders have been placed. Watson said Saipan’s concrete poles are sourced from South Korea and go through engineering inspection before shipment.
On power restoration, Watson said the hospital on Feeder 1 remains the top priority. CUC plans to expand power from Plant 4 to Garapan hotels and the wastewater treatment plant in the coming days. Power Plant 1 is weeks away from restoration after sustaining storm damage including roof and wall breaches that require drying and repair before any restart attempt. All wastewater lift stations remain operational on emergency backup generators.
Watson said the 100 percent federal cost share under the major disaster declaration means CUC can be fully reimbursed for all emergency expenses including equipment, labor and supplies for the first 90 days.
Residents are asked to report any visible water leaks to the CUC call center immediately.
