KAILUA-KONA — The Keopu deep well in North Kona, which can serve water accounts north and south of the Keopu and Waiaha areas, is on track to return to service by the county Department of Water Supply’s target date of Dec. 20.
If all goes well, Kaiulani Matsumoto, DWS interim information and education specialist, said the department will reduce the mandatory 25 percent usage restriction currently in place for North Kona water customers to a 10 percent voluntary conservation. If that happens, it will be the first time since January there hasn’t been at least a 25 percent restriction on water use in the district.
The Keopu deep well went offline in March. It is undergoing its first repair since being constructed in 2009.
The department then will turn its sites to repairs for the Hualalai and Keahuolu deep wells. Both have failed multiple times in recent months. Equipment at the bottom of the deep well at Waiaha also must still be recovered after a cable snapped during a removal effort earlier this year.
There is no timetable in place for any of those three North Kona wells to return to service.
Meanwhile, the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates deep well site in Ka‘u, the only county water source serving HOVE and the Ranchos Area, remains down. It went offline last month.
The HOVE well is not a “regular water distribution system,” instead supplying a spigot and standpipe station at a site separate from where the well and tank are situated.
Matsumoto said the contractor removed the pump and motor, determining an inoperable motor was the cause of the well’s failure. A spare motor is on its way to the site, DWS said in a release Monday.
The department says because of the breakdown, the following remain in effect:
• The drinking water spigots remain open for community access. While spigots remain open for general community access, users are asked to limit their consumption to potable needs only to help extend current water availability in the reservoir.
• The standpipe facility for water haulers is closed until repairs can be completed.
“The pump has been sent back to the manufacturer for refurbishing and is expected to be back on site by early January 2018,” Matsumoto said.
Email Max Dible at mdible@westhawaiitoday.com.
