The state Department of Health is telling residents and visitors to stay out of the water this weekend after heavy rains Thursday created runoff and 389,680 gallons of treated and untreated wastewater flowed into waterways from Wai'anae to Kane'ohe.

A brown-water advisory has been issued for the entire state, and people are advised to stay out of coastal waters, lakes and streams until at least Monday. No beaches have been closed but warning signs have been posted throughout the state and water sampling will be done on all Islands.

O'ahu was pummeled with more than 14 inches of rain in a 12-hour period Thursday, and the water flooded homes and washed debris and waste into the ocean and other waterways. Residents and officials around the island Thursday reported blown manhole covers and flooded streets caused by clogged storm drains and overworked sewer lines.

"It's for everybody's good to stay out (of the water) through the weekend, until Monday at least. The (bacteria) tests are all going to be high, we know that. If we get more rains, that will just lengthen the time," said Watson Okubo, supervisor for the monitoring and analysis section of the Clean Water branch of the state Department of Health.

"We have had heavy rains and pretty much everything got washed off the land and into the ocean, and we have other ingredients added into the mix that raise health issues with it."

The branch will collect data for bacteria, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH levels.

The state also issued a warning about the possible increased risk of leptospirosis infection. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease caused by leptospira bacteria spread through the urine of infected animals such as rodents, wild pigs, dogs and livestock that can contaminate freshwater and mud and enter a person's body through the mouth, nose, eyes, and cuts or open wounds, according to the state.

"Because leptospirosis is endemic in our freshwater streams in Hawai'i, heavy rains especially related to flooding and overflowing waterways increase the risk of exposure to leptospirosis bacteria," said Dr. Sarah Park, chief of the Department of Health's Disease Outbreak Control Division. "We did see two cases of illness from leptospirosis after the heavy flooding in Manoa in October 2004."

Park said in a statement that people engaged in flood damage cleanup, should cover all open wounds with waterproof dressings, and wear protective gear such as gloves, boots, waders, aprons and goggles.

WASTEWATER OVERFLOW

The heavy rain Thursday caused wastewater overflows all over O'ahu.

At 1015 North School St. Thursday, 38,000 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled into Kapalama Canal. At 1047 Hele St. in Kailua, 17,250 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled into Enchanted Lake.

More than 23,500 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled into Manuwai Canal from a break in a sewer line at the intersection of Pakini Street and Salt Lake Boulevard in Salt Lake.

And late last night, the city received confirmation that Hawaii Reserves Inc., 55-549 Naniloa Loop in Lai'e, had a wastewater spill of 6,000 gallons that went into Lai'e Bay.

Maurice T. Morita, a Salt Lake resident who has lived in the area for 10 years, said Salt Lake Boulevard usually floods and overflows during heavy rain.

"It usually happens there because the ditches are clogged up. It's always been a problem," said Morita, who moved to Salt Lake from Maui 10 years ago.

An overflowed sewer line at 85-693 Farrington Highway in Wai'anae resulted in 1,700 gallons of untreated wastewater into Wai'anae Boat Harbor.

William Aila Jr., the Wai'anae Harbor master, said a foot of debris had piled up at the harbor's launch ramps yesterday morning and that water was gushing as high as 2 feet from manhole covers Thursday.

"That's out of the ordinary but when the system can't handle what's going through, that's what happens," Aila said. "That 1,700 gallons was probably a drop in the bucket compared to the millions of gallons flushed out to sea."

Also Thursday, crews from the city's Department of Environmental Services responded to two wastewater treatment plant overflows, one at the Wahiawa Wastewater Treatment Plant and one at the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. Intermittent overflows from the Wahiawa headworks facility started at 5:23 a.m. Thursday and stopped when city workers secured the site at 1:40 p.m.

SAND ISLAND FLOOD

Approximately 226,000 gallons of combined fully treated and untreated wastewater went into Wahiawa Reservoir.

Approximately 10,000 gallons overflowed from a drain line at the Sand Island headworks facility, an estimated 5,000 gallons dissipated into the plant grounds and the remainder entered a storm drain that leads to Honolulu Harbor, according to the city.

Workers posted warning signs and began sampling today at both Kawa Stream and Kane'ohe Bay after an overflow at the Kane'ohe Pretreatment Facility. A total of 37,500 gallons of untreated wastewater entered Kawa Stream via surface run-off, which empties into Kane'ohe Bay.

Approximately 40,000 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled into the Mokapu Central Drainage Channel at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i, Kane'ohe Bay, and another 2,000 gallons spilled into Kane'ohe Bay near Hale Koa Beach at MCB Hawai'i.

"When you have that amount of rain in a brief period spanning the entire island of O'ahu, it surcharges our wastewater system by the infiltration. Our Collection System Maintenance crews began responding to wastewater incidents around 5 p.m. (Wednesday) and finished around 1 a.m. (yesterday)," said Eric Takamura, head of the city Department of Environmental Services.

"The Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant (that) processes nearly 74 millions gallons daily experienced flows of around 230 million gallons a day."