HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Guam Environmental Protection Agency has been made aware of facilities around the island that have taken water deliveries from companies using tanker trucks not rated or approved for potable water, and is now investigating the matter, according to the Joint Information Center.
Non-potable tanker trucks are not approved for the delivery of water for human consumption. They are used in transporting untested water and may contain unsafe bacteria or chemical contaminants. Traces of these contaminants will remain in the tank and in the water that consumers receive, according to the JIC.
Boiling the water from these non-potable water tankers will not make it safe for human consumption.
“Guam EPA urges that if your facility has received water in this manner, cease consumption immediately and do not drink it,” the JIC release stated.
Anyone who may have come into contact with this water is notified to stop: drinking the water, using it for cooking, brushing teeth, or using it in any way that may risk ingestion.
Guam EPA is advising residents who may have received water from an unapproved method to use bottled water for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation until further notice.
The water delivered by these non-potable water tankers may only be used for flushing toilets, doing laundry, household cleaning and other non-potable purposes.
Contact Guam EPA
Guam EPA is requiring owners of facilities that accepted water deliveries from companies through unapproved methods to self-identify and to provide notification to all residents and patrons, using a required notification form, that water at their facilities was derived from an unapproved source and should not be consumed.
These facilities can contact Guam EPA for the required notification form.
They are also to notify Guam EPA of the dates of each water delivery, the company that delivered the water, and the amount of water delivered via email to [email protected] or [email protected].
“Guam EPA continues to contact owners of all non-potable water delivery trucks who may have delivered water through unapproved methods,” the JIC release stated. “Supplying water intended for consumption through unapproved methods shall be considered to be in violation of the Guam Safe Drinking Water Act and may be subject to administrative penalty orders of up to $32,500 per violation, per day.”
The Guam Waterworks Authority is not affected by this matter, a subsequent release stated.
“GWA water is supplied by approved methods which are consistent with the Guam Safe Drinking Water Act, subject to the ongoing precautionary boil-water notice,” the release added. “The investigation does not apply to GWA water, and applies only to people and businesses that have purchased water from non-GWA, non-potable tanker trucks.”
A Guam Waterworks Authority water tanker is staged at George Washington High School in Mangilao to fill the school’s water tank on May 29, 2023.
