Commonwealth Utilities Corp (Saipan)

Water Quality Snapshot: Commonwealth Utilities Corp (Saipan)

Commonwealth Utilities Corp (Saipan) is a state-owned community water system that delivers drinking water to 48,524 residents in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands through 11,317 service connections. Its water is drawn from groundwater sources. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System records 82 total violations for this system , of which 56 (68%) are health-based, meaning a contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level or a required treatment technique failed. A further 26 monitoring and reporting violations are on file. The most recent violation on record dates to 2023.

The most frequently cited contaminant at this system is Coliform (TCR), recorded in 43 violations (MCL, health-based). Under EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program, 9 PFAS compounds were detected in samples collected from this system, with a maximum reported concentration of 133.8 ppt (parts per trillion). PFAS are persistent synthetic chemicals linked to health effects at very low exposure levels.

Across Northern Mariana Islands, EPA tracks 60 public water systems serving 70,193 people, with 4,377 cumulative violations and 163 health-based violations on record. About 98% of systems in the state carry at least one violation, and state-wide the average per system is 73 violations. Statewide, 1 of 2 UCMR5-tested systems have reported PFAS detections (50%).

Commonwealth Utilities Corp (Saipan)'s 82 violations sit above the Northern Mariana Islands average.

All figures above are sourced directly from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 public data releases and are updated as EPA publishes new reporting cycles.