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http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...-increases
The 36-page report ... defines problems in key areas, but offers little in the way of solutions ... Generally, options for upgrade or closure include closure and connection to an existing nearby sewer system with available capacity, closure and connection to a new private or public sewer system, closure and connection to a community-scale package wastewater treatment system or upgrade to an on-site septic tank and/or aerobic treatment unit system.
Note the lack of composting option.
There is a $10K tax credit for certain "qualified" cesspool upgrades -- but this requires that the owner have money to pay for an upgrade in the first place.
Again: note the lack of composting option. If the DoH really wants participation, they should type-approve a few models of composting toilet.
Funny thing: there's really nothing wrong with a cesspool
when the population density is low enough, but like everything else here, we have a scaling problem created by unmanaged growth and zero planning.
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As was pointed out in another active thread: you get what you pay for. And sometimes you get who (the majority of) you voted for. If some of those Puna subdivisions had proper septic systems installed (and lots priced accordingly) and others didn't, what do you think the respective occupancies would look like for those two types of subdivisions?
How many of your neighbors are going to vote for a politician or a community association member who tells you that you are going to have to fork over >$10K per household to get yourself hooked up to a community septic system? A truthful politician will always lose to one who tells the comforting lies...
Unless you and your neighbors develop a taste for your neighbors cesspool effluent, and an aversion to politicians bullsh*t, then the rest of the bill will always come due for the cheap political promises and for your purchase of a "cheap" lot in Puna with no infrastructure.
And as an aside, your proposed solution isn't credible: how many of your neighbors are going to spring for a composting toilet in their beautiful $x00,000 home? and what would that do to its resale value???
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how many of your neighbors are going to spring for a composting toilet in their beautiful $x00,000 home? and what would that do to its resale value???
The neighbors with the unpermitted shack, the neighbors under tarps, or the neighbors living in a shipping container? I'm pretty sure any of them would prefer an approved composting solution to condemnation for an illegal cesspool.
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"The neighbors with the unpermitted shack"
You really think these people would by an expensive toilet ?
If you have a composting toilet you still need a septic system for the grey water.Lots of nasty stuff can come off of peoples bodies and out of their dirty wash.
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You really think these people would by an expensive toilet ?
If it allowed them to keep their home, yes; however, the rules as written don't work that way. Basically, if you choose the "cheap land/low taxes" lifestyle, you need to keep a pile of cash on hand "just in case" County decides to respond to complaints about your lifestyle choice -- figure $10K for the new septic system plus another $10K to negotiate the "as-built" permitting process.
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You can recycle human waste in a compost heap. Check out the Humanure handbook.
You can treat greywater through sand filtering and plant watering. Look up greywater recycling.
Lots of nasty stuff comes out of the oil-fired power plants that run water and sewer systems. Lots of nasty stuff comes out of the sewers and into Hilo bay.
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recycle human waste in a compost heap ... treat greywater through sand filtering
Please cite the relevant State/County regulations which permit these activities.
Oh, right. There aren't any.
Perhaps explain how a median-income household can afford "$200-800/month for 20-30 years".
Oh, right. They can't.
Why, it's almost as if this "problem" was simply ignored until it became large enough (eg, measured in $billions) to force expensive changes that "some people" won't be able to afford -- yet, at the same time, we need those people to flip burgers and clean hotel rooms.
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quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
plus another $10K to negotiate the "as-built" permitting process.
What does this mean? Getting a permit after the fact? What kind of permit? Septic? For $10K?
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Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but here goes. The cesspool to septic upgrade comes from the State Department of Health. The inspection process is done through the Building Department because they enforce the rules of the Plumbing Code in attaching the sanitary sewer system to the septic tank. A reason for the upgrade was due to the Clean Water Act, a Federal law that States must enforce to get Federal funding. Both departments are required to be within a two year window of current law/codes.
The Building Department enforces composting/incinerating toilets under the "alternative methods" section, and it's a real PIA due to the "discretionary" enforcement.
Grey water systems are a real cluster, as the Plumbing Code has requirements, but is governed also by the State Department of Health.
Community begins with Aloha
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"discretionary" enforcement
Not exactly "rule of law", then.
Grey water systems are a real cluster
Less to go wrong, here.
In both cases, County could get all kinds of "voluntary compliance" with type-approved solutions. That these don't exist suggests that mitigation of environmental impact isn't the point, it's really all about selling expensive tickets to the permit-license-fee-inspection circus.
