In her report to CUC deputy director for water and wastewater Bruce R. Megarr, laboratory manager Heidi Yelin said despite repeat samples, Tinian public water systems still exceeded the maximum contaminant level for coliform.
CUC Tinian deputy director Ed Quichocho indicated that the sample tap might be the source of contamination as it was at the back of the house and not in regular use.
Tinian will investigate the area for leaks or other possible sources of contamination and confirmation samples will be collected after the cause of the positive results is identified, Yelin said in her report.
A public notice will be issued as soon as possible before Oct. 29 on Tinian’s public water system, she added.
During the same period last year, Tinian and Rota had no violations unlike Saipan which reported some violations.
Megarr said the reduction in violations this year is due to CUC’s intensified water sampling.
On Saipan, a routine sample collected on Sept. 1 at site 17A from the Isley Booster 2 was found to contain total coliform. However, all the repeat samples did not have coliform.
A likely source of the contamination may have been the ants nesting in and around the CUC sample tap, Yelin said.
On Rota, the public water system collected three routine safe drinking water samples on Sept. 23 and none of the samples contained total coliform.
Yelin said two Saipan and two Rota samples collected during the August required re-sampling and were sent to a laboratory in California on Oct. 6.
