About 50 people turned out last night to have their say on a proposed 16.7 percent sewer rate increase in East Honolulu.

Hawaii-American Water Co., a private company that provides sewer service to more than 30,000 people in Hawai'i Kai and part of Kuli'ou'ou, said the increase is needed to cover rising costs and pay for ongoing upgrades.

But it's the company's third rate hike request in four years, and many at last night's meeting opposed the latest proposed increase, calling it "ludicrous" and "unfair."

"Basically, they're not doing what they said they're doing," Jim Weander, a Hawai'i Kai resident and former marina patrolman, said after the meeting. "They haven't kept up with the expansion in Hawai'i Kai and now they expect us as consumers to pay for that."

If the new rates are approved by the Public Utilities Commission, the sewer bill for single-family homes would rise to $63.65 per month over two years. Multifamily residences, such as condominiums, would see their bills increase to $53.40 per month.

The two previous rate increases, in 2004 and 2006, increased sewer fees for single-family homes served by Hawaii-American Water by a total of 12.6 percent.

The company said last month that it wants to generate an additional $1.3 million, or about 15.9 percent, in revenue per year, about 42 percent of which will cover rising operational costs.

The rest will pay for upgrades to the 40-year-old East Honolulu sewer system.

At last night's meeting, Lee Mansfield, manager of Hawaii-American Water, said the company needs to refurbish the plant's anaerobic digesters and reline the system's concrete pipes to prevent breaks and disruptions in service. Over the last four or five years, Hawaii-American has relined 15 percent of the pipes in the 60-mile system and plans to reline another 5 to 7 percent in the next few years.

East Honolulu is not the only place where sewer rates are on the rise. The city announced last year that it will increase its rates 18 percent this year and in each of the next two years. As a result, the typical O'ahu home's monthly sewer charge is expected to double from $45.44 to more than $90 by 2011.

Some East Honolulu residents say their sewer service has not kept up with the rising rates. Most problematic, they say, is an odor that has plagued Sandy Beach and the surrounding neighborhoods for years. The sewer plant sits mauka of Kalaniana'ole Highway, across from the beach.

Margaret Wong, who lives in Koko Villa, said the company has not kept its promises to the community over the years, especially in regard to the odor problem.

For that reason, she is skeptical that increased rates will bring better service.

"They haven't done all the things they're supposed to do," she said at the meeting, adding, "Last week or two weeks ago, (the smell) was so bad that we had to go into the house and turn on the air conditioning."

Mansfield said the company is testing different chemicals to try to reduce the smell and expects to have the results of an odor study in a few months.

"We have kept up," he said. "If we had not, there would have been more difficulties, more spills.

"If we had not gone into the relining project four to five years ago, there would be more potential for rainwater to overwhelm the system."

The company is also proposing an 8.7 percent sewer rate increase for food-service operations and a 16.5 percent increase for nonfood commercial operations.