Environment, Rescue

Hurricane triggers sewage spill in Hawaii

Hurricane triggers sewage spill in Hawaii
Ana’s rains flooded Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant

Featured Image -- 5582
Photos By Cathy Bussewitz/AP
This NOAA satellite image taken Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. EDT shows Hurricane Ana just to the south of Hawaii. While Ana wouldn\'t make landfall on any of the islands, it will bring high winds, heavy rain and high surf to the southern facing beaches. Further east, Tropical Storm Trudy brings very heavy rains to the Acapulco, Mexico area. Over the mainland, an area of low pressure moves eastward across the southern Rocky Mountains with rain showers and isolated thunderstorms.
Photos By Cathy Bussewitz/AP

By Jim Mendoza Hawaii News Now: KHNL/KGMB

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hurricane Ana’s steady rain soaked Oahu Saturday through Sunday and disrupted the system at the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plant processes 60 million to 70 million gallons of wastewater on an average day. It’s equipped to handle twice that, but not what Ana poured down.

“Then it started spiking up, spiking up, spiking up. It went up to 240 million gallons,” Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said.

That overloaded the system and sent 5,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater into Honolulu Harbor. But 20 million gallons went into the treatment plant’s storeroom.Surfer Emile Meder, 23 of Honolulu, watches the waves at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sat., Oct. 18, 2014 as Hurricane Ana passes southwest of Hawaii.

“Twenty million gallons of sewage up to a couple inches of the tops of doors,” Caldwell said. “Somewhere between 6 and 8 feet of sewage down in this area where all of our electrical panels are.”

The flood short circuited electrical panels that operate the plant’s eight sewage clarifiers. Sand Island can still treat wastewater but can’t send sludge from the sewage to a processing plant until electricity is restored..

“They’re working very hard to get these two primary clarifiers up and running again. They anticipate having it up and running by Thursday if not sooner,” Caldwell said.A county bus is stranded on Highway 11 in Naalehu, Hawaii where heavy rains from Hurricane Ana flooded the road on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014. Hurricane Ana was on course to miss Hawaii by more than a hundred miles but was generating high waves, strong winds and heavy rains that prompted flash-flood warnings throughout the islands.

He said the treatment plant can function with just three clarifiers.

“We’ve learned that in future rain events we’re going to make sure that any holes and overflows are dealt with and temporarily sealed,” Caldwell said.

He said Ana has prompted his administration to develop a standard operating procedure for future rain events.

Copyright 2014 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

  • Photos By Cathy Bussewitz/AP
    Tourists watch surfers out in choppy waves at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, as Hurricane Ana passes southwest of Hawaii.

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  • Tourists watch surfers out in choppy waves at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, as Hurricane Ana passes southwest of Hawaii. A paddle boarder heads to shore at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, as Hurricane Ana passes southwest of Hawaii. Surfer Emile Meder, 23 of Honolulu, watches the waves at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sat., Oct. 18, 2014 as Hurricane Ana passes southwest of Hawaii. Surfers ride choppy waves at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, as Hurricane Ana passes southwest of Hawaii. A county bus is stranded on Highway 11 in Naalehu, Hawaii where heavy rains from Hurricane Ana flooded the road on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014. Hurricane Ana was on course to miss Hawaii by more than a hundred miles but was generating high waves, strong winds and heavy rains that prompted flash-flood warnings throughout the islands. People watch high surf at South Point, Hawaii on Friday, Oct. 17, 2014 as Hurricane Ana carved a path just south of the island state. The storm prompted a flood advisory and winds strong enough for officials to urge caution. This NOAA satellite image taken Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. EDT shows Hurricane Ana just to the south of Hawaii. While Ana wouldn\'t make landfall on any of the islands, it will bring high winds, heavy rain and high surf to the southern facing beaches. Further east, Tropical Storm Trudy brings very heavy rains to the Acapulco, Mexico area. Over the mainland, an area of low pressure moves eastward across the southern Rocky Mountains with rain showers and isolated thunderstorms.
 Traffic navigates a flooded street in Waikiki in Honolulu Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014. Hurricane Ana brought a steady rain to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu as it passed about 180 miles west. Ward Kea, of Honolulu, jumps over a puddle as he prepares to board a bus in Honolulu Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014. Hurricane Ana brought a steady rain to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu as it passed about 180 miles west.

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii residents started

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Bing Wildlife Foundation

Free E-Book available to subscribers. Areas of interest for publishing include: Industrial Automation | Environmental Optimization | Space | Forensics | Logistics Favorite quote: "Know what you don't know" (Someone, 2020). Jessica attended the University of San Diego’s lawyer’s assistant program immediately after obtaining her undergraduate degree. She worked as a legal assistant while she pursued her master’s in forensic science. After obtaining her MS. degree she continued to work in the legal field for years till she got involved in the pre-planning business. She has been working on her PhD in forensic psychology on and off over the past several years. Her current focus of analysis is assisting in the process of perfecting a comprehensive analysis of LIFE EXPECTANCY as it relates to ELEVATION / LONGITUDE / LATITUDE / POPULATION DENSITY and NUTRITION variables and their relationship to life span and quality of life to produce a dissertation topic that focuses on solutions to the problem of a decreasing life expectancy and its relationship to increasing income inequalities in America. Improving educational skills training is the #1 variable involved in elevating quality of life while simultaneously raising life expectancy. (Klocko, et al., 2015). A qualitative approach, utilizing both quantitative statistics over time and qualitative population sampling, would best represent all angles of this topic (Stimpson & Walker, 2020). Reference: Klocko, B. A., Marshall, S. M., & Davidson, J. F. (2015). Developing practitioner-scholar doctoral candidates as critical writers. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 15(4), 21-31.

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