Hawaii Pump Failures and DWS fodder

[Eric1600]

The unaccountability of DWS, the odd string of pump and well failures and inventory issues, not to mention the "subcontractor repair" problems make this a perfect storm of controversy. I know it's not directly Puna related, but the drama that might unfold is a perfect fit.

http://bigislandnow.com/2017/09/14/lette...-failures/

[kalakoa]

Perhaps the hotel/resort operators have enough money to demand some accountability?

[Rob Tucker]

VEry interesting. Mahalo...

[Chunkster]

Sifting through the article one comes across negligence, incompetence, possible nepotism, lack of good planning, and zero accountability in an important county agency. And don't be fooled by the "autonomous" tag hanged on the Water Department. It's pure Hawaii local government at its typical worst.

[Rob Tucker]

Chunkster is being kind.

[MarkP]

If a hotel/resort is sitting on an adequate resource I can see them drilling their own well. That opens them up to some liability that would otherwise belong to the county but on the upside they could enjoy the security and autonomy of having their own water supply. I know I enjoy those courtesy of my catchment system.

[leilanidude]

Many of the resorts do have their own wells, but have to get permission from DWS to drill them and must allow a percentage of the well capacity (varies by location and isplumbed into the public system) to be able to be used by DWS.

[terracore]

Many of the resorts in Mexico supply their own water via desalination. One of the byproducts of this process is that the water is safe to drink. But, Mexico being an energy exporting country, the cost of desalination is probably cheaper than what it would cost here.

[geochem]

quote:

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Originally posted by leilanidude

Many of the resorts do have their own wells, but have to get permission from DWS to drill them and must allow a percentage of the well capacity (varies by location and isplumbed into the public system) to be able to be used by DWS.

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Most resorts are on the shoreline and don't (as of now) have good access to good quality water under their property. The current strategy by the DWS is that those hotels can secure access to a higher elevation parcel, drill a well (according to specified design) and dedicate (give) the well to the county with the understanding that they have rights to some percentage of the well's capacity (in return for use of the county distribution system to transport the water to their hotel). As far as I am aware, all the near-shore wells are brackish and are used for irrigation - I don't know whether any of the resorts are attempting desal for their water from those brackish wells. Some owners of high-end, shoreline homes, are going to desal, but that generates issues associated with disposal of the brine fraction that has yet to be dealt with...

[kalakoa]

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...ent-issues

This caught my eye:

"The urgent situation at Kohala Ranch required the contractor to (demobilize) his rig from our site to use there," Keith Okamoto, DWS manager and chief engineer, wrote in an email Monday. "We're still waiting to see how long he'll be there. In the meantime, we're working with him to see if his rig on another island can be shipped to be used on our Kona wells."

DWS doesn't even have their own equipment...