Guamanians will be able to wash their cars and waterblast at their homes on Saturday morning, June 24, as the governor has lifted the water supply emergency. Additionally, the precautionary boil water notice has been lifted.
Both are good news and indicate a return to normal conditions. It’s been almost a full month after Typhoon Mawar slammed into Guam, with sustained winds of 140 mph churning over Guam for about 10 hours beginning the evening of May 24.
On June 23, Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero signed Executive Order 2023-08 that lifts the emergency effective 12:01 a.m. June 24. The emergency was instituted shortly after Typhoon Mawar devastated the island’s water system. Most of the island lost water service due to damage at the pumps or loss of power. The governor called on residents to refrain from using water to wash their cars or water blast their homes to help water reservoir levels rise and ensure more people were able to get water as GWA worked to water pumps operational.
“I have closely tracked GWA’s progress in restoring water services to our island,” the governor states in the executive order.
“As of the time of this writing, just four weeks into the recovery effort, GWA reports that it has restored water to over 95% of customers and that Guam’s water supply system is at pre-typhoon production, with 101 wells producing approximately 34.7 million gallons of water per day or 102% of pre-typhoon production … based on this data, it is appropriate to lift the second water shortage emergency declared in E.O. 2023-06, to enable our community to resume usage of public water for all purposes.”
In a separate press release, Guam Waterworks Authority and the Guam Environmental Protection Agency agreed to lift the precautionary boil water notice. According to GWA General Manager Miguel C. Bordallo lifting the notice means “the water system has adequate pressure and water sampling and analysis in all areas confirm the water in our distribution system is clear of any contaminants.”
“We appreciate the public’s understanding during this restoration period,” Bordallo said.
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, according to the press release. Recovery information is available at guamwaterworks.org/mawarupdates as well as GWA’s Facebook and Instagram platforms (@guamwaterworksauthority), and the What’s On Tap Guam Podcast channel at bit.ly/whatsontapGWA. mbj
Both are good news and indicate a return to normal conditions. It’s been almost a full month after Typhoon Mawar slammed into Guam, with sustained winds of 140 mph churning over Guam for about 10 hours beginning the evening of May 24.
On June 23, Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero signed Executive Order 2023-08 that lifts the emergency effective 12:01 a.m. June 24. The emergency was instituted shortly after Typhoon Mawar devastated the island’s water system. Most of the island lost water service due to damage at the pumps or loss of power. The governor called on residents to refrain from using water to wash their cars or water blast their homes to help water reservoir levels rise and ensure more people were able to get water as GWA worked to water pumps operational.
“I have closely tracked GWA’s progress in restoring water services to our island,” the governor states in the executive order.
“As of the time of this writing, just four weeks into the recovery effort, GWA reports that it has restored water to over 95% of customers and that Guam’s water supply system is at pre-typhoon production, with 101 wells producing approximately 34.7 million gallons of water per day or 102% of pre-typhoon production … based on this data, it is appropriate to lift the second water shortage emergency declared in E.O. 2023-06, to enable our community to resume usage of public water for all purposes.”
In a separate press release, Guam Waterworks Authority and the Guam Environmental Protection Agency agreed to lift the precautionary boil water notice. According to GWA General Manager Miguel C. Bordallo lifting the notice means “the water system has adequate pressure and water sampling and analysis in all areas confirm the water in our distribution system is clear of any contaminants.”
“We appreciate the public’s understanding during this restoration period,” Bordallo said.
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, according to the press release. Recovery information is available at guamwaterworks.org/mawarupdates as well as GWA’s Facebook and Instagram platforms (@guamwaterworksauthority), and the What’s On Tap Guam Podcast channel at bit.ly/whatsontapGWA. mbj