10-30-2007, 04:11 AM
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I would like to see Kapohocat's suggestion for replacing all the antique cesspools there become a reality -especially as the place approaches build out.
This is a difficult reality if the county actually becomes serious in implementing improvements in waste treatment in the shoreline areas. In our working group in the PCDP (Growth Management) subsurface water quality was a major focus of investigation. As Rob pointed out we recommended disallowing cesspools for all new development. The working group's document can be found at
http://www.hcrc.info/hawai-i-island-plan...t.pdf/view
We also made a strong recommendation that for new development in SMA's (shoreline management areas) and within 1000' feet of drilled wells that aerobic septic systems must be required. Regular septic systems are simply inadequate for waste treatment in critical areas where subsurface and shoreline water will directly affect people. Aerobic septic systems are like small scale municipal sewage systems in that air is bubbled through an additional chamber in a septic tank by a submerged pump. These systems can produce near-potable treated water and are vastly superior to standard septic systems. Unfortunately they are also very expensive. Having had to personally install one on Maui (due to proximity to a drilled well) we found that they cost on the order of $15,000. The other alternative that many expanding neighborhoods on the mainland have had to experience is to retrofit a piped sewage system feeding a large scale municipal-style treatment plant with each property owner paying some portion of the cost. While it's possible this may be a less expensive bulk solution, there are other consequences such as odor from the treatment plant. If there are any civil engineers around perhaps they might be able to make some guess of comparative cost.
The point is that the issue of preventing serious subsurface and ocean pollution from the use of cesspools is expensive to correct. Going cheap with standard septic systems does little to correct the problem. While existing development is often grandfathered into revised development codes, where an area is considered critical, such as a popular shoreline area, grandfathering may not be considered appropriate and the property owners may well be at least partially on the hook to update their systems.
Much better said than me! Thank you !!!!!!!
Catherine Dumond
Blue Water Project Management
808 217-7578
http://bluewaterpm.125mb.com/index.html
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