By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

IF Chacha Oceanview Junior High was the Public School System’s excessive water consumer in December, it is Hopwood Junior High School which incurred the highest water billing for January — $33,446.
PSS federal programs officer and acting finance director Tim Thornburgh on Friday said 15 schools on Saipan consumed $76,946 worth of water last month.
“Almost all of our schools on Saipan showed substantial reduction in power and water usage in January except for Hopwood which got the unexpected highest billing,” Thornburgh said, adding that PSS, in collaboration with Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Water Task Force, will look at problems on the campus.
Thornburgh said five schools on Rota and Tinian have yet to submit their January water billing.
“We will look at the Hopwood campus again and check what the real problem is behind this excessive water consumption,” he said, adding that they are convinced that the school still has major water leaks and may have multiple water meters that read the same water consumption.
PSS, like other government agencies, is now paying for its own utilities — power, water and sewer.
In November, its 20 public schools were billed a total of $119,105 for water and this increased by 36 percent, or to $187,457 in December.
Chacha Oceanview topped the December water billing with $63,203.
“After working on Chacha’s water leak problem, PSS is happy to announce that campus water usage drastically declined. In January, it consumed only $4,811 for water compared to over $63,000 in December,” Thornburgh said.
The 15 Saipan schools with their corresponding January water bills are: Garapan Elementary, $1,029 from December’s $1,279; Oleai Elementary, $181 from $563; San Antonio Elementary, $4,181 from $6,760; Dandan Elementary, $1,427 from $2,471; Kagman Elementary, $5,831 from $8,258; Tanapag Elementary, $5,443 from $7,633; William S. Reyes, $27 from $230; Koblerville Elementary, $4,641 from $13,047; Marianas High School, $577 from $6,438; Kagman High, $519 from $645; Head Start, $646 from $2,764; and PSS central office, $249 from $3,334 in December.
San Vicente Elementary also showed an increase in water usage — $4,659 in January compared to December’s $3,258.
Saipan Southern High and Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary showed no significant changes in their consumption — $6,075 and $3,200.