KAILUA-KONA — The Department of Water Supply issued a water restriction notice for customers in North Kona.
KAILUA-KONA — The Department of Water Supply issued a water restriction notice for customers in North Kona.
For at least the next few weeks, department officials request each customer attempt to reduce water consumption by 25 percent as the department undertakes repairs to wells in the area.
“Water is available. Everyone has water,” said Robert Ravenscraft, water district supervisor in Kona. “All the repairs are (due to) normal wear and tear.”
Ravenscraft said most of the time, the wells are more cooperative and require repairs at manageable intervals that don’t necessitate any water restrictions. This time, however, multiple wells suffered setbacks simultaneously.
Four wells in the area are currently down, including the Waiaha well north of Holualoa and the Keahuolu well located on Queen Liliuokalani Trust land. Repairs for both wells fall under the purview of the Department of Water Supply.
Ravenscraft said repairs to the other two non-functioning wells actually aren’t the department’s kuleana, but declined to say who was responsible for their maintenance.
“Our concern is without extra production capacity, there is a lot of pressure on our anchor well,” he said, adding that is what necessitated the water use restrictions.
The Honokohau well is the anchor and has a capacity of 1 million gallons. Ravenscraft said it’s currently about half full and holding there, but because so many North Kona residents are now drawing on this main water supply, replenishing the water level to its full capacity has been a challenge.
With a little help from the community, those levels can be driven back up in the short-term.
He said he expects the necessary parts for repairs at the Keahuolu well to arrive by the end of the week. Once maintenance begins, it should be roughly three weeks before the well is up and running, which should provide enough extra water to the system to allow the department to roll back water-use restrictions.
Ravenscraft added the process for repairing the well at Waiaha has begun, but no timeline has been determined as to when it might come back online.
In its release, the department provided a link to water reduction methods. They are as follows:
• Wash only full loads of laundry or dishes.
• Check faucets and pipes for leaks.
• Serve drinking water only when requested.
• Keep a container of drinking water in the refrigerator. Use drinking water wisely.
• Do not let water run unnecessarily. Shut the water off when you wash or brush your teeth.
• When bathing or showering, use water only to wet and rinse off.
• Do not fill up the bathtub.
• Use a glass to rinse when brushing your teeth.
• Do not flush toilets unnecessarily.
• Stop lawn sprinkling.
• Stop car and boat washing.
• Stop dust control watering.