Hawaii Cesspool

[HiloJulie]

Interesting read here about Hawaii’s cesspool problems. 

https://fortune.com/2023/07/06/climate-c...rally/amp/

[Durian Fiend]

"Honolulu’s municipal government, responsible for all of Oahu, plans to eliminate nearly 1,000 of the island’s 7,500 cesspools by spending $50 million to run sewer lines to an Ewa Beach neighborhood. The project mainly will be funded by tax-exempt municipal bonds."

That's $50K per cesspool. A lot of money, yet clearly the best plan for all properties near the coast.

Sewer lines for homes near aquifers should also be prioritized statewide. As for the rest, I agree about requiring septic for new construction but otherwise not forcing residences with existing cesspools to change over. That would be a waste of money and resources.

[HiloJulie]

"Honolulu’s municipal government, responsible for all of Oahu, plans to eliminate nearly 1,000 of the island’s 7,500 cesspools by spending $50 million to run sewer lines to an Ewa Beach neighborhood. The project mainly will be funded by tax-exempt municipal bonds."

That's $50K per cesspool.  A lot of money, yet clearly the best plan for all properties near the coast.

Sewer lines for homes near aquifers should also be prioritized statewide.  As for the rest, I agree about requiring septic for new construction but otherwise not forcing residences with existing cesspools to change over.  That would be a waste of money and resources.

I agree with you 100%

I also read this story about Hawaii’s recycling program. Fund balance in excess of 54 million bucks and each audit concludes mismanagement. 

“The office has issued nine reports on the program since 2005, and it has been a recurring finding that the program “is not being run efficiently or effectively,” Kondo said.”

So there is money. And recycling is supposed to be a waste minimization goal, but with 54 million in the bank it’s safe to say a few select people are well paid but that’s about it!

https://www.civilbeat.org/2023/07/why-is...t-program/

[MyManao]

Sewer lines for homes near aquifers..

I think with a little research you will find that all homes are directly over our aquifer. The entire island is permeated with water. Fresh water above salt water. There are some perched, via planes of denser rock, bodies, and some barriers created by faults, but generically all the water that is absorbed by the land ends up being stored in the rock below us, and eventually leaches out at our shores.. and below..

As such all cesspools are raining polluted water into our aquifer. Every last one of them.

[TomK]

I think the issue is that cesspools near the coast pollute coastal waters much faster and even more than those farther inland, so replacing those should take priority.

[Amrita]

At 10K-50K for conversion, by 2050 think what it will cost by then 100K? 200K? for a retiree to OLE, 5 miles inland. Grants--unlikely, sewer, even more unlikely when it comes time to sell, probably would have to convert to septic. Who's gonna help when one tries to live self-sufficient and does not want govn. imposed regulations. But on the other hand am aware of the damage this does to the environment. Of course I'll be ashes to ashes by 2050 anyway and by then cesspools will likely be the least of the problems, microplastics, already the highest temps. since humans first walked the earth (it's in the news this week), open carry now legal in Hawaii. Counting on the youth of today to fix what man hath wroth since the decimation of the indigenous populations in the Americas and the Islands, well they live in a metaverse, reality is fleeting. Guess the end times are not near, but earth as we know it is on the wane and may not be recognizable by 2050. O well...

[Durian Fiend]

Sewer lines for homes near aquifers..

I think with a little research you will find that all homes are directly over our aquifer. The entire island is permeated with water. Fresh water above salt water. There are some perched, via planes of denser rock, bodies, and some barriers created by faults, but generically all the water that is absorbed by the land ends up being stored in the rock below us, and eventually leaches out at our shores.. and below..

As such all cesspools are raining polluted water into our aquifer. Every last one of them.

This PDF water quality report mentions the water sources for Hilo.   These are monitored yearly and do not show any violations for nitrates.


https://www.hawaiidws.org/wp-content/upl...lo2020.pdf

[SBH]

Hawaii also has tens of thousands of evasive wild boars pooping and peeing all over the place having a similar polluting effect or possibly worse since their waste is on the surface. 

If the issue is waste polluting our coasts we have to look at the bigger picture including boats and ships that dump their waste in our oceans. I’ve seen huge brown “skid marks” from ships in our channels. 

Cesspools are only part of the problem and that issue can be helped immediately by adding microbes to eat the waste every few months.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000DZD3MY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 “treatment is all-natural, contains zero chemicals, is non-toxic, non-pathogenic, and groundwater safe”

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Years ago when I lived on Maui I remember reading that for every 3 cars on the island, 2 were rental cars.  Not sure that ratio is 100% correct, but it was high.

Even if it’s 50-50, tourists eat a lot, and create mountains and let’s say rivers of waste (I saw the landfill on Maui last year, and it was a mountain, I thought when I drove by , what’s its elevation)?  Zero tourist waste, truly zero, would instantly solve half the problem.  And even though we residents, Amrita, would have to beg for septic grants, the resorts wouldn’t, I’m quite sure of that.

[randomq]

Large capacity cesspools are already illegal, and businesses get huge fines if they haven't replaced them yet.

How do we get to zero tourist waste? Do they have to take it back with them on the plane?

Maybe it would be better if it was mandatory to compost all tourist poo, we could eventually have deep rich soil like the other islands!