Several big water users report usage cutbacks
| • | Watering exception sought for city parks |
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Top water users on O'ahu say they are taking steps to conserve and plan to do even more to help with the island's drought-induced water shortage.
The Chevron plant in Campbell Industrial Park, which manufactures petroleum from crude oil, will cut water use by 25 percent when a new water recycling system goes on line mid-month, making an additional 330,000 gallons of potable water per day available to other users, company spokesman Albert Chee said.
Chevron began building the $600,000 system after Board of Water Supply officials asked the company to reduce its water use in 2001.
Chevron is the No. 2 water user on the island, according to a list of the top 95 users released by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply yesterday.
Those top users are responsible for 12 percent of O'ahu's total water consumption, said Barry Usagawa, the board's water resources principal executive.
Aquifer levels have dropped so low after five years of below-normal rainfall that the board has asked customers to voluntarily limit irrigation to Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. If a 10 percent reduction in demand is not met, the board will consider mandatory restrictions.
Marine Corps Base Hawai'i at Kane'ohe Bay, one of the few military bases that buys all of its water from the board, is the island's top water user despite a 14 percent reduction since 2001. Water officials said the Marines have taken a number of laudable measures to conserve but remain at the top of the list chiefly because of the size of the base.
Maj. Chris Hughes, public affairs officer, said more than 15,000 Marines use the water.
The airport, where the Department of Transportation logged its highest use, is in a similar situation, Usagawa said.
Despite the installation of low-flush toilets and a system that recycles water from a watercress farm, the high number of users put the airport's two water meters in the third and fifth places.
The Hilton Hawaiian Village had implemented several conservation measures, including putting in low-flush toilets and low-flow showers, even before the board informed the hotel that it was No. 6, said George Hayward, a Hilton spokesman.
After being notified, Hilton cut 2 minutes off its irrigation system run time and decreased the number of times per month it cycles water through the resort's pond, Hayward said.
Peter Rossegg, senior communications consultant for HECO, said the utility has reduced water use significantly over the past year.
"By finding and fixing underground leaks, we saved 3 million gallons of water over the previous year. We also saved about $120,000 over the course of a year," Rossegg said.
Ameron Hawaii, a main distributor of construction products, is one of the 12 companies that responded to the Board of Water Supply's letter requesting that big water users make a commitment to conserve. In the company's letter, engineering manager Kirk Hashimoto said a production increase because of high construction demand in Hawai'i and leaks are the main reasons the company's water use has increased over last year.
Advertiser staff writers Curtis Lum and Kawehi Haug contributed to this report.
• • •
