Since January, the local press has written about the deep well water pump repair situation in North Kona. About half has been informational news, and half were opinions. Many comments were made by disgruntled readers. The repetitious theme has been
Since January, the local press has written about the deep well water pump repair situation in North Kona. About half has been informational news, and half were opinions. Many comments were made by disgruntled readers. The repetitious theme has been to accentuate accusations of failure by the County Department of Water Supply.
I see the situation as setbacks to the ongoing mission of corrective work that is yet to be accomplished. If full audits of DWS are conducted, the findings may indicate a need to update the water agency’s authority, responsibility, and accountability.
A water board member expressed his opinion in a letter to the editor that to maintain a reliable supply of water to consumers a system of redundant pumps be installed, thus adding complexity to the ongoing repair process. If such an order were to be issued by the board, I doubt that such work can be accomplished expeditiously to restore the lost delivery capacity and increase reliability with certainty at reasonable cost. I can see such an endeavor to be a long-term water supply development and management plan with the due process of project formulation and implementation.
I visited the Department of Water Supply to read about the scope of well repair and project update. Putting the DWS information together with the West Hawaii Today news reports, DWS is moving in the direction of repair with professionalism. Groundwater production from deep wells (1,700 to 1,800 feet) in a subterranean geo-hydrology can be fraught with unforeseen circumstances including unexpected premature wear and tear of pumping equipment. It would be prudent to avoid overexertion of the pumps that are in operation now.
Water consumption needs to be restricted and conservation be practiced by all users, residents and visitors. It is incumbent on all of us to adhere to the water usage conditions imposed on the consumers to help the DWS continue the repair process without unhelpful comments of unforeseen circumstances.
Harold Murata is a resident Honalo
