Hawaii town asked to save water

The Department of Water asked Kilauea, Hawaii-area residents to reduce their water consumption after an increase in use left some residents with low water pressure.

Residents are encouraged to minimize lawn irrigation, washing of vehicles, dust control and other non-critical uses, according to a DOW press release. The release also recommended that fire prevention measures be taken.

“We are coming into the drier times of the year, and irrigation has increased,” says Les Yoshioka, chief of operations.

Water usage has doubled in the Kilauea Water System since April, Yoshioka says, jumping from 600,000 gallons per day to 1.2 million gallons per day. Statistics for last year’s usage are not available, he said.

The Kilauea Water System spans the area between Kalihiwai and Waipake, Yoshioka says.

Homes in the second phase of the Pu‘u Pane subdivision, on the Lihu‘e side of the Ka Loko Dam, have been affected by the decreased water pressure, said Michael Dyer, who helped develop infrastructure in the subdivision.

From the outset the DOW required a low pressure agreement for homes at the site due to the elevation, Dyer says.

A private booster system installed between 2002 and 2003 has kept the problem at bay by increasing the pressure to the homes, he says. However this year there is not enough pressure at times even to push water into the booster system, Dyer said.

He says the Ka Loko Dam break in March may have caused people who used Ka Loko water to rely on the county water system instead.

Approximately nine to 10 families have homes in the elevated area of the subdivision, with room for about 19 families, Dyer says.

Yoshioka says the rain over the weekend had helped alleviate some of the demand of lawn and agricultural irrigation on the Kilauea system.

He says a permanent DOW booster pump that would help increase pressure is in the planning phase, but costs had not been determined. The department also may set up a temporary booster pump, he adds.