By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
THE Commonwealth Utilities Corporation is seeking Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission approval to purchase more than $2.2 million in new ultrasonic water meters to replace roughly 2,500 failed units across Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, CUC Executive Director Kevin Watson said.
In an interview after a special CUC board meeting last week, Watson said, “One of the topics today during this special CUC meeting was water meters. And that was to purchase meters for replacement of failed meters in our system. We have about 2,500.”
Watson said the failures stem from the CNMI’s highly corrosive groundwater conditions, driven by saltwater intrusion and high total dissolved solids. “That builds up inside of meters,” he said. “A typical meter has moving parts. As that builds up, it slows the mechanism down. It still allows water to flow through, but it stops measuring. And that’s what’s happened to the 2,500 meters.”
CUC plans to replace the aging mechanical meters with ultrasonic Neptune meters, which have no moving parts and use a straight-pipe internal design to measure flow. Watson said CUC has already tested the technology in the field.
“We’ve identified and tested an ultrasonic meter that doesn’t have moving parts, just a straight pipe internally that will accurately measure the flow and will continue to measure accurately for over 10 to 20 years,” he said. “And that has been proven by meters that we have in the ground.”
The meters will be purchased through Ferguson, the sole distributor of Neptune meters. “The cost for this purchase is $2.2 million plus,” Watson said.
PFOS settlement funds will cover the cost
Watson said CUC can fund the project through its PFOS operations and maintenance fund, which was created from national settlement payments involving companies including 3M and DuPont.
“EPA and DOJ have stipulated that we can only use those funds on water and wastewater O&M,” he said. “This is an O&M project, and so it can be used for that.”
He added that customers will eventually benefit from more accurate billing and improved monitoring of their water use.
“This will also help customers reduce their water bill because they will be able to monitor their usage,” he said. “And if they have a continuous leak, they can fix it right away.”
Replacement timeline depends on CPUC approval
CUC must secure Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission approval because the procurement exceeds the $350,000 threshold and does not qualify as an emergency purchase.
“We’re petitioning them to call a special meeting so that we can get these meters on order,” Watson said. “But it’s not ordered yet. We can’t order without the contract purchase agreement.”
The 2,500 failed meters represent the combined total for Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. Watson said each island will receive replacements, though he did not have an exact breakdown for Tinian and Rota. He noted each island has roughly 1,000 customers.
Impact on non-revenue water
Watson said accurate metering is a key part of CUC’s effort to reduce non-revenue water—water produced but not billed due to leaks, meter failures, or other losses.
“Two years ago, we were about 78% non-revenue water,” he said. “We’re below 50% now, although the typhoon really skewed that because the trees uprooted and numerous water lines broke.”
CUC expects to reduce non-revenue water to below 20% within one to two years. Watson said the financial impact is significant.
“The cost of non-revenue water exceeds $500,000 per year,” he said. “We will be able to reduce that within a two-year period or less.”
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
