Posted on: Monday, May 28, 2001
Mokule'ia pushes for safe water
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser North Shore Bureau
NORTH SHORE — An April warning to boil drinking water from a private Mokule'ia water system has prompted area residents to press for government intervention to ensure they receive safe drinking water.
Citing a previous warning, the system's aging pipes and gastrointestinal problems that occurred around the time of the boil order, North Shore Neighborhood Board member Michael Dailey said the people in the community do not have safe drinking water.
"Somewhere there needs to be a solution, and it's the Department of Health's responsibility to solve this issue," Dailey said during a North Shore Neighborhood Board meeting last week.
The community is served by the Mokulī'ia Land Co. water system. About 100 families and 30,000 visitors to Camp Mokule'ia use the system annually.
On April 19 the company issued a warning to its users to boil their water because a monthly water test indicated the water had exceeded standards for fecal coliform bacteria, found in human waste.
"The question from many of us in the community is, so that was a random test, but how long had the filter been down before we were notified that we were drinking unsanitary water?" Dailey said.
The company responded that it recently hired a professional water management company to run its system, and the state Department of Health said the company hasn't had any bad test results since April 23.
Bill Wong, with the Health Department Clean Drinking Water Branch, said water is tested monthly for 131 private systems throughout the state, including Punahou School, Kamehameha Schools and Mokule'ia Land Co.
Boil orders are infrequent, Wong acknowledged. Health Department has issued two notices so far this year. Last year three went out and one the year before. If fecal coliform is present in any amount, a notice is sent out, Wong said, adding that he doesn't know where the contamination entered the Mokule'ia system.
The company was unable to determine that either, said Ethel Takahashi of Mokule'ia Land. The person who was responsible for adding chlorine to the system had quit and no one realized chlorination had stopped, Takahashi said.
"Nobody picked up on that," she said. "Besides (the lack of chlorination), they're trying to find what really was the problem."
Mokule'ia Land revealed at the meeting that it, too, is looking for government help. Though its water quality consistently meets state standards, the company said it has been trying for some time to get the Board of Water Supply to take over its water system, with its most recent request coming on May 22.
The company, owned by a Japanese firm, operates a horse boarding stable and cultivates taro and coconuts.
Bill Tam, attorney for Mokule'ia Land, said past attempts to turn the system over to the city had failed, but this year the Board of Water Supply seemed open to the idea.
Joe Kaakua, a Board of Water Supply representative at the meeting, said the department doesn't want to run the private system as it is being run now.
"We know nothing about Mokule'ia Land's system," Kaakua said. "We know our system is reliable. We (would) rather stay with our system then assume liability."
Hooking into the city system could cost up to $2.6 million, and no one is sure yet how that would be paid.
As for Mokule'ia Land, Health Department would only step in if its violations were constant, which is not the case, Wong said. "We can't tell them to fix it if there's nothing wrong with their system from water quality standards," he said.
Mokule'ia Land promised to return to the board in two months for a progress report.
