Sewer project to benefit La'ie

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

A new sewer technology costing about $17 million and slated for La'ie could open the door for development in the tiny community, where expansion has been limited for years because of failing cesspools and septic tanks.

Casper Ahtoon, a foreman with RCI Construction, works in the new 30-foot-deep waste well that will be part of a low-pressure sewer system being built in La'ie. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Some 724 homes in La'ie are affected. Of these, about 175 homes and all commercial property in La'ie are tied into the HRI treatment plant, but they, too, will convert with the rest of the community.

The city will pay for and maintain the pumps, and once the project is completed, will take over operation of the plant, which cleans wastewater to the highest level, removing 99.5 percent of the particles, officials said. The system also disinfects with ultraviolet light.

John Elkington, a Ko'olauloa Neighborhood Board member representing La'ie, said the system will be good for the environment and economy, including bringing growth to the community.

"I'm here 30 years and nothing has gone wrong with my cesspool, but we know in the long run it degrades the landscape and the ocean," Elkington said.

Plus, people in La'ie are eager to build, add new rooms and expand old homes to accommodate growing families and family members who want to move there, he said.

The first phase of the project, affecting mostly commercial properties and Brigham Young University-Hawai'i, is under way. The second phase, affecting residential properties, is in design and should be bidded out by the end of summer, with work to begin soon afterward and lasting one year.

The city and HRI are splitting the cost evenly for 93 percent of the project. Homeowners will pay the remaining 7 percent, with costs estimated to run between $3,500 and $6,000 each, said Jace McQuivey, HRI vice president in charge of utilities. Financial arrangements are available to homeowners.

McQuivey said the technology is perfect for La'ie's geography, which is relatively flat and close to the ocean. The gravity system commonly used throughout the island requires pipes continually sloping downhill, requiring depths of 20 feet or more.

But the pressurized collection pipes won't have to go as deep and will be much smaller because the pump at the home will grind all material before sending it forward.

"The main benefit is we're going to be taking most of the community off cesspools and septic tanks," he said. "That will do wonders for the environment. It will make groundwater cleaner, and none of that stuff will be leaching into the ground."

The city and HRI initiated the project in 2000, hinging it on City Council approval of a sewer improvement district for the area. That was done last September.

Tim Steinberger, director for the city Department of Environmental Services, said the technology is relatively new to Hawai'i. The industrial area in Mapunapuna is using the pumps and reporting few maintenance problems.

A few other communities might benefit from the system, and the city is looking at installing them there, including low areas in Kahalu'u and 'Aiea Heights, Steinberger said, adding that cost will determine which system is chosen. The North Shore would also be a good candidate, but there are no treatment plants nearby, he said.

Steinberger said the system benefits not only the La'ie community but the island as a whole and it also makes the state Department of Health happy because it wants to eliminate cesspool use in Hawai'i.

"It's a good deal for everybody, especially since somebody else is picking up half the cost," he said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.