He said water rationing will continue on some villages as supply remains scarce after a long period of drought.
He said the aquafier which stores water cannot hold much supply when the water table in the upper surface of the zone of saturation continues to evaporate during alternate rainfall and sunny days.
“Rainwater is also wasted in the runoff from the land,” he said.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it will take 30 days of constant rains for the water to reach the saturation point of aquifers and get a sustainable amount of water.
In June, CUC announced water rationing may be inevitable due to limited supply.
Iglecias said CUC is trying to educate the community about the water cycle so that people will understand why they cannot deliver enough water supplies even if the island is now experiencing rain showers almost daily.
The high elevated areas are mostly affected by low water services, especially during the dry season when water supply is scarce, he said.
Variety learned water rationing at Capitol Hill and Garapan is still in effect even with the continuous rain showers in the past days. Water interruption will continue until further notice in the said areas.
Last Saturday, 11 hours of water outage was enforced at Upper and Lower Gualo Rai area, affecting customers residing along Gualo Rai Road, around Rai Drive, Robat Drive, Espana St. and Cheribiyan Drive. The water interruption started from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The water outage was implemented because the CUC water division distribution maintenance worked on the Gualo Rai reservoir to seal all holes and openings, inspect, clean and disinfect the storage tank.
CUC acting deputy director for water and wastewater operation Robert Lorenz said the required work is necessary to protect treated stored water and provide improved overall water quality for public consumption.
“This work enables Water Division to comply with the Stipulated Order concerning drinking water operations and maintenance in correcting major sanitary deficiencies cited during storage tanks inspection,” Lorenz said.
Lorenz is encouraging resident to practice strict water conservation and to teach children and household worker to save water. He said that rainwater catchments systems and water tanks should be cleaned and float valves installed or replaced to ensure that water does not overflow from any tanks.
