Welcome!

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Welcome to the home page for the Mariana Islands Water Operator Association.  This web site provides information about upcoming continuing education training for water and waste water operators in the Northern Mariana Islands (click on "Training Calendar" to the left), and links to on-line training resources and exam study materials (click on "Links:).  To learn more about the benefits of becoming a member of the Mariana Islands Water Operator Association click on "Membership." To learn more about the water operator certification requirements in the Northern Mariana Islands click on "Certification."  Members of the Association are eligible to check out books from the Association "Lending Library".  Click on "Lending Library" at the left to see what titles are available.

COVID-19 Resources for Water Operators

We have created a webpage with links to COVID-19 resources for water and wastewater operators.  Click on "COVID-19 Resources" in the menu or the button below.

Next continuing education class

likely in April 2021: topics Winter storm in Texas power outages and boil water notices (guess where Derek is right now)

Upcoming trainings/webinars offered by other organizations

Hawaii Rural Water Association
Continuing Education Classes (virtual):
Administration and Public Relations of Distribution System O&M (4 hours) $190
March 10, 12, 17, 19: 4:00 am - 8:00 am (ChST GMT +10)
to register: www.hrwa.net/training.html

Exam Review Classes (virtual)
To register: www.hrwa.net/dsowtpo-exam-review-registration.html 
These classes are FREE - but space is limited and you need to sign up early enough so that materials can be mailed.
Distribution System Operator Exam Grade 1 & 2 March 30-April 2 4-8 am ChST
Distribution System Operator Exam Review Grade 3 & 4 April 7-10 4-8am ChST
Water Treatment System Operator Exam Review Grade 1 & 2 April 14-17 4-8am ChST

AWWA Hawaii Section
Small System Workshop: Setting Effective Rates for Small Water Systems (FREE)
Preregister by March 16
March 17 & 18 4:30 am - 11:30 am ChST GMT +10
to register: www.awwa.org/Events/AWWA-Events-Calendar/Meeting-Details/productId/87906917
See info graphic below for details about this workshop
NRWA
How to Protect Your Water utility from Cyber Attacks (FREE)
Friday March 26, 2021 6:00 am ChST (GMT+10)
to register: register.gotowebinar.com/register/3963184577969070604
ASDWA (Association of State Drinking Water Administrators)
2021 Virtual  Membership Meeting - open to public (FREE)
"PFA's Updates, Resources and State Perspectives"
Wednesday March 31, 2021 3:00 am ChST (GMT+10)
register: register.gotowebinar.com/register/3160646642523855888
INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL ISLANDS WATER CONFERENCE
($40 early bird March 1 - April 1; $50 after April1)
April 13-16, 2021 7:00 am - 11:00 am ChST
More Info: International Tropical Islands Water Conference – Hawai'i EPSCoR

On-Demand Webinars

Pall Corporation
Reopening Hotels, Office Buildings And Healthcare Facilities After The COVID-19 Pandemic: Managing Legionella Risks In Building Water Systems (FREE)
https://www.pall.com/en/laboratory/webinars/covid-19-legionella-risks.html

Add your email to on-line class invitation list

If you are not already receiving training announcements from "Training@MarianasOperators.org" then complete the form below and click submit to get added to the email invitation list for the new on-line CEU classes.  If you have been receiving emails, then you are already on the email invitation list.  It won't hurt to fill it out again if you want.  I enter all these manually so I'll check to see if you are already on the list before I add you. It will take at least 24 hours for me to add you to the list because I only do this once a day at most.

    On-Line Class Invitation List Sign Up Form

PFAs Resources for Water Operators

Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council - PFAS Resources for Water Operators: ​https://pfas-1.itrcweb.org/

PFOS and PFOA Health Advisory

In 2015 CUC conducted two rounds of sampling for unregulated contaminants.  In May of 2016, USEPA announced a health advisory for two of the contaminants that were detected in the Saipan CUC water distribution system. CUC immediately removed one well from service that was known to contain high concentrations of the contaminants known as PFOS and began the process of collecting samples from other wells to determine the extent of the contamination.  In late July 2016 CUC received the results from the sampling and were able to determine which wells were contributing significant amounts of PFOS to the distribution system.  On July 29, 2016 - six additional wells were removed from service in order to reduce the contaminant concentration to below the health advisory level of 0.070 ug/l.  For more detailed information about PFOS and PFOA contamination on Saipan, health affects of PFOS and PFOA and to see a map of the water distribution areas on Saipan that were affected click here or click on the "PFOS - PFOA Health Advisory" link on the menu.

Information about the Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR)

The Revised Total Coliform Rule went into effect on April 1, 2016.  You may know that a water system is supposed to take some kind of action if they get a total coliform positive sample during their routine monthly sampling, but how many positive samples does it take before action has to be taken?  And then what action has to be taken?  We have created a page to remind water operators how this new rule works.  Click on RTCR Info on the left side menu or click here.

Information about Lead and Copper in CNMI's drinking water

The lead contamination crisis in the drinking water supply in Flint, Michigan became national news in late January 2016. This crisis has revealed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the CNMI Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality the need to make the public more aware of the efforts made towards regulating lead and copper in the CNMI's drinking water as well as making sure that the drinking water is free from all harmful contaminants.  To further that need, the Mariana Islands Water Operator Association, in conjunction with BECQ, has created several web pages that describe the sampling protocols for lead and copper, guidnace for selection of sampling sites, materials inventories for public water systems in the CNMI, and lead and copper sampling results for most public water systems in the CNMI.  To go to the Lead and Copper Information pages click here.

BECQ Publishes Revised Drinking Water Regulations

The Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality (BECQ) Safe Drinking Water Program (SDWP) published the adoption of the final revised drinking water regulations in the December 28, 2015 edition of the Commonwealth Register.  These revised regulations adopt the new Revised Total Coliform Rule (Subpart Y of 40 CFR 141).  BECQ held a Public Water System Workshop on Tuesday January 26, 2016 where they introduced the new regulation to CNMI water systems.  The water operator Association plans on conducting further training for this new rule in March 2016.  Specifically the training will address how certified operators-in-charge of public water systems are to conduct level 1 assessments of their system if there is a positive total coliform detected in their distribution system.

To learn more about the Revised Total Coliform Rule visit U.S. EPA's website: http://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/revised-total-coliform-rule-and-total-coliform-rule

You can find the official version of the CNMI Drinking Water Regulations on the CNMI Law Revision Commission website: http://www.cnmilaw.org or http://www.cnmilaw.org/mediawiki-1.21.2/index.php?title=65-20

Also, you can download a pdf copy of the "unofficial" version of the CNMI Drinking Water Regulations by clicking here.

Attendance certificates now on-line

Attendance certificates for classes are now available as downloadable pdf or tiff files from this website.  To find certificates for any class, click on the Training Calendar link at the left > then Past Events > then select the class from the list, like November 9, 2011> at the bottom of each page is a list of people that were at the class.  Click on the person's last name to download the certificate for that person for that class.  

Lending Library Materials

Our records about who has what book checked out are not up to date.  Some members have returned books and others have checked them out - but somehow the transaction did not get recorded.  If you have a lending library book out and your name is not on the list please let us know so we can record your name with the book.

Our Mission

The Mariana Islands Water Operator Association is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to provide and promote training and career development for operators and managers of environmental utilities in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

Get Your 2021 membership!

Membership in the Mariana Islands Water Operator Association is ONLY $10 a year.  What a bargain.  Click on the membership link to the right to find out what the benefits are of being a member of the Association.

Contact Information

We don't have a physical office.  Our organization is managed by an unpaid board of directors that volunteer their time and energy.  The best way to contact us is via e-mail at the addresses listed below:

Board Members (positions yet to be determined)
  • Derek Chambers
  • Cecilio Raiukiulipiy
  • Mariano Iglecias
  • Larry Manacop
  • Gary Byrd
Postal address 
     P.O. Box 502512, Saipan, MP 96950 (USA) 
Electronic mail 
     General Information: info@marianasoperators.org
     Webmaster: webmaster@marianasoperators.org   
​     Training Announcements training@marianasoperators.org
Last Modified: 03/02//2021