Last night, the Board of Water Supply (BWS) completely shut down its largest water source on O'ahu, Hālawa Shaft, due to reports from the Navy regarding contamination at their Red Hill well. On Tuesday, November 30, when the BWS heard about the Red Hill well being shut down on Sunday night, they immediately reduced pumping capacity by 50%: 10 million gallons per day to 5 million gallons per day. While this reduction did not impact customers’ use, it did signal serious concerns from the utility.
“We are deeply concerned that we were not notified immediately by the Navy regarding the shut down of their Red Hill water source,” stated Manager and Chief Engineer Ernest Lau. “We have data that shows when they stop pumping at Red Hill, water starts moving in the direction of our Hālawa Shaft due to our pumping. In an abundance of caution, we must shut down Hālawa Shaft until further notice.”
The BWS will make up the 20% supplied by Hālawa Shaft by upping pumpage from other resources. They do not anticipate any major impact at this time and, as always ask customers to implement good water conservation practices. They will monitor water consumption closely and if anything should change, they will alert the public immediately.
If there are any questions, please call (808) 748-5041 or email contactus@hbws.org.