Canoe clubs slowly are returning to the Ala Wai Canal nearly six months after millions of gallons of diverted sewage turned it into a toxic river.

Although state health officials said in May that bacteria in the canal had returned to what they feel are normal levels, nearly all the clubs that consider it a training mecca chose to practice elsewhere for the summer.

Waikiki Surf Club started bringing its canoes back from Ke'ehi Lagoon last week, paddling them up the Ala Wai to its canoe house at the end of University Avenue.

Longtime club member Luana Froiseth spoke with officials at the health department's Clean Water Branch before the club's return. She said she feels safe paddling in the canal she once swam in as a child.

Club members supported the return, she said.

"We talked to paddlers to see if they were OK with it," Froiseth said. "They actually wanted to come back. We always said we were going to come back to the Ala Wai because that was our home."

No one who paddles in the Ala Wai would ever consider it a sparkling waterway. Three urban streams empty into it, including two — Manoa and Palolo — that contain high levels of bacteria. Infections were as much a part of any paddling season as sore muscles.

But on March 24, an aging sewer main ruptured, prompting the city to divert 48 million gallons of raw sewage into the Ala Wai Canal rather than risk sewage backing up into nearby homes, hotels and businesses.

Clubs moved their boats to other locations, such as Ke'ehi Lagoon, Maunalua Bay and Kaimana Beach, where users were given a special permit from the city to use a beach reserved for swimmers.

The state removed sewage warning signs in May after tests found that bacteria levels in the canal were the same as levels before the sewage was diverted. Ever since, paddlers have asked health officials to keep testing.

"There is nothing we can do about it because, after all, it is a drainage canal," said Watson Okubo, supervisor for the monitoring and analysis section of the health department's Clean Water Branch. "We can help paddlers by recommending that they exercise good hygiene, clean their cuts and bandage them."

The pathogens and viruses associated with the sewage have died off, Okubo said. But that doesn't mean the water is pristine.

"If the health department wanted to take the safest way out of this whole thing, they could say it is a drainage canal and we can't allow people to recreate in filth that comes out of the gutter," Okubo said. "But that isn't serving the community."

Canoe chairwoman for Outrigger Canoe Club Jenifer Bossert said the state's explanation of bacteria levels is hardly a bill of clean health.

"The state says the Ala Wai has returned to pre-sewage spill levels," she said. "They are not claiming it is a safe level. They are sort of vague when you ask is it safe to go back. They are saying, if you didn't have a problem before, why do you have a problem now?"

Outrigger used Kaimana Beach and its nearby club headquarters for the regatta season, which ended Aug. 5. People came out who hadn't paddled in years, and the club's ranks swelled to 340 paddlers. But the club's Kaimana permit expires Aug. 22, and its paddlers are reluctant to return to their practice spot at the Diamond Head end of the Ala Wai.

They could embrace a return to the canal if there were a shower at the Ala Wai site, Bossert said. A way to clean off after practice has been on the club's wish list for years.

"We've asked for a spigot so we could have a hose," she said. "If we had one, we would have paid for a shower by now with our own money. There is just no running water there."

Koa Kai Canoe Club practices at the mouth of the Ala Wai, where the canal empties into the ocean near Magic Island. Because it's a short paddle out to open water, Koa Kai paddlers returned to the area after health officials removed signs in May.

They were the first to return to the area, which has easy access to showers, said Dave Randall, head coach.

But paddlers were cautious.

"Everyone wore shoes because they didn't want to get cut in the water," he said. "Everyone spent as little time in the water as possible. The club bought antibacterial soap so that after practice, we could scrub down."

Two months later, the mood has changed.

"We still have soap available, but almost nobody uses it," he said. "After two months with no infections of any kind, people are comfortable."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.