KAILUA-KONA — The county Department of Water Supply is planning to overhaul its testing and inspection processes of incoming deep well equipment in the wake of several premature failures that led to a water crisis in North Kona.
KAILUA-KONA — The county Department of Water Supply is planning to overhaul its testing and inspection processes of incoming deep well equipment in the wake of several premature failures that led to a water crisis in North Kona.
Keith Okamoto, DWS manager and chief engineer, noted the plans in remarks given during a Water Board meeting Tuesday in Kailua-Kona.
“We’re going to have to require these contractors, suppliers or distributors (of deep well equipment) to prove to us before we accept shipment and accept the item that they do this thorough checklist of items in the proper position,” Okamoto said. “Somebody, a third-party licensed engineer or somebody, is going to have to certify that all that was done before we make acceptances. So that’s what we plan to do moving forward.”
DWS already stipulates in some of its contracts that certain types of third-party inspections be conducted, and all recent contracts included that language, Okamoto said.
But those inspections are more general, testing basic pump efficiency and running full-string tests, which measure equipment function at full speed handling the expected workload.
The department is comprising a more comprehensive list of equipment functions it will require tested and certified by an independent third party in future contracts — the checklist Okamoto mentioned in his comments to the Water Board.
That list will include tests of critical dimensions, or specific and unique tasks and strains the equipment will face once installed in Big Island deep wells.
“In the past, we were able to rely on the pump manufacturer’s certification that the pump and motor is good to go,” Okamoto said. “In this particular case, of course, (that was not so).”
When he said “this particular case,” Okamoto was referring to the deep well equipment set for Waimea that DWS decided to divert as a backup for the Honokohau deep well.
Honokohau failed Aug. 13 after being repaired roughly two years before. The replacement motor was never used and was in storage for a month before proving defective.
The precise source of the motor’s failure remains unclear.
DWS typically requires such equipment to be vacuum sealed during shipping and while in storage on the island to ensure it’s protected from the elements, which can cause corrosion.
However, this only allows DWS to inspect its hardware visually, a process that is substantially limited in its investigative potential to identify possible equipment deficiencies.
Pre-installation tests are administered immediately before the equipment is to be put to use. But if a problem is noted, at that point, it’s too late. Equipment must then be returned to the manufacturer for a rebuild or new equipment has to be ordered. This can result in wells remaining offline for months longer than planned.
Several such incidents involving well equipment at multiple sites in North Kona during the past year are the primary cause of the water crisis the region is experiencing.
Another potential change Okamoto said the department is considering involves removing equipment from vacuum sealed packaging while still in storage and rotating it, despite the potential of opening the equipment up to corrosion.
Not all deep well equipment shipped to the island is vacuum sealed, lending to the idea that periodic rotation is more important than storage methods that keep equipment impervious to environmental factors.
Email Max Dible at mdible@westhawaiitoday.com.