Lest you think Keith Ishihara is all wet, every day, as he drives through the intersection of Komo Mai Drive and Hoomoana Street in Pearl City, he notices water puddling. Not that unusual, given the recent rains. But this puddle never goes away. Pearl City puddle
puzzles driver"I have been seeing it long enough to be a little concerned with its source," Ishihara e-mails. "I just find it unusual that the water is there everyday in that one area."
A quick inspection reveals that the intersection is indeed damp. Not submerged. Moisture is percolating up through the asphalt, just a hair quicker than it can evaporate.
The street is the responsibility of the city public-works department, and they indicated they'd take a look. The Board of Water Supply, however, has fielded several inquiries about the damp crossroads in the past few months.
"When water comes up like that, it could be for many reasons," explained Wanda Yamane of the BWS. "Broken water mains. A natural spring. Waste-water pipes. Rainwater seepage. Even a slow leak in private property that's traveling underground."
The procedure in these cases is to take a sample of the water and do a chemical analysis. "That tells us if it's purified water, or wastewater, or even water from a swimming pool," said Yamane. "That narrows down the possibilities."
The water tested at the Pearl City site has the properties of rainwater, so an underground wash of rainwater is what they think it is. Not much they can do about that, said Yamane. But it's a good idea to keep an eye on it, and that means you, Citizen Ishihara. Underground water can seriously damage the road, particularly after it dries out and the asphalt settles. It would be a shame if the road collapsed and a pool were to spring up in the intersection. After all, the Momilani Community Association swimming pool is only a hundred feet away -- downhill.
Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin
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