Pahoa water pump
fails; Big Isle
restricts supply
An emergency rule for
By Rod Thompson
some areas bans filling containers
that top 55 gallons
Star-BulletinHILO -- Drought-stricken Big Islanders won't be allowed to hog water at roadside spigots. An emergency regulation expected to go into effect today will prohibit people from filling containers larger than 55 gallons. Some residents have been filling 400-gallon tanks, county lawyer Glenn Shiigi said.
With a pump burning out at a Pahoa well yesterday, some people will find themselves on even greater restriction, said county Department of Water Supply spokesman Quirino Antonio.
The area from Pahoa to Kapoho has been added to a growing list of places where people are asked to lower water use by as much as 25 percent, Antonio said.
Two other pumps near Pahoa are providing some water to the area.
Other areas under restriction include the Piihonua-upper Kaumana area of Hilo, where efforts to install a new pump ahead of schedule have been hampered by electrical problems, and Glenwood, where there is enough water but pumps aren't strong enough to increase uphill pressure.
Commercial water haulers who drew as much as 100,000 gallons a day from that Pahoa system were told to drive an extra 10 miles to get their water from a system at Keaau.
County Civil Defense official Wendell Hatada said his office asked for the regulation on big tanks, good for 120 days.
"A lot of people would go there with large tanks. They'd hog the spigots," he said.
The spigots were opened in the 1980s to provide drinking water for homes on rainwater catchment that might be contaminated by lead.
Their use later changed to drought relief.
ipShiigi said there is no restriction on the number of 55-gallon drums that can be filled, and larger tanks still can be filled at the Keaau spigot. Violators can be fined up to $500.
