By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Water service has been fully restored to all villages after nearly a month of disruption following typhoon Mawar, the Guam Waterworks Authority announced.
GWA also lifted its precautionary boil water notice, indicating that "areas with adequate pressure, chlorine residual levels in the water, and water sampling and analysis are clear of any contaminants."
"Since Typhoon Mawar, water samples were tested daily at GEPA-designated testing sites throughout the GWA distribution system, and all samples were confirmed to be free of contaminants throughout the entire recovery period," GWA said.
The water service restoration also prompted Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero to lift the initial emergency on the public water supply shortage, which is set to expire on July 4. The second state of emergency declaration will be lifted effective 12:01 a.m. on June 24, allowing residents to resume the use of public water for all purposes.
“The system is now producing water at pre-typhoon levels and distributing it to all service areas, which is a huge milestone after typhoon Mawar,” said Miguel C. Bordallo, GWA general manager.
However, Bordallo warned that some isolated pocket outages may still occur due to service connections that were damaged in the typhoon or post-storm cleanup, as well as the possibility of low water pressure during times of peak demand while GWA continues to build reservoir levels.
“We have received some notifications from residents that do not have water, and our crews have discovered water pipes or other assets that sustained storm damage and required repair before water service could be restored to those areas,” Bordallo said.
He advised residents who are still experiencing water problems to notify GWA.
Bordallo credited GWA's water and wastewater crews that worked "day and night to help our systems get back to full operation."
While repair work will continue, Bordallo said "these team members deserve to be acknowledged and recognized for their tireless pursuit of full water service restoration for the people of Guam.”
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