PAHOA — Puna residents would not lose water service should the June 27 lava flow destroy a 300,000-gallon reservoir on Apaa Street, according to Hawaii County Department of Water Supply’s deputy manager.
Keith Okamoto said another reservoir near Pahoa High School sits at higher elevation and the department expects it would be able to supply its customers downslope.
“Even if that tank should be impacted and overrun by the lava, we will still be able to maintain continuous service to our customers,” he said.
The department serves about 1,000 customers in lower Puna, not including those who use its spigots for drinking water. Many residents there rely on water catchment.
The Apaa Street reservoir also is the site of an exploratory well not currently being used.
Okamoto said the department is considering using cinder and concrete cylinders to protect the well so it could be accessed should lava cover it. Similar methods have been used to protect utility poles in the flow’s path.
“It’s an asset we don’t want to give up,” he said.
Water Supply’s Puna wells are located near Highway 130 north of Pahoa and near Pahoa High School, Okamoto said. None is currently threatened by the flow.
To avoid water loss, the department also is installing valves on pipes where the infrastructure could be damaged by the flow. While the pipes are buried, the lava’s intense heat above still could cause ruptures in the system.
The valves would be used to isolate pipe segments that are damaged.
That might result in a few of the homes either in or adjacent to the flow’s path being disconnected from the water supply should the valves need to be closed.
But Okamoto said that won’t occur before lava threatens the distribution system.
“(We understand) those people want to stay in their homes as long as possible,” he said.
Flow update
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists say it remains unclear what path a lava breakout upslope of Apaa Street will follow.
The lobe was about 300 yards away from the road as of Friday morning.
Steve Brantley, HVO scientist-in-charge, told Puna residents at a community meeting Thursday evening that the breakout could follow a similar path as the rest of the flow, turn more toward Malama Market, or go in both directions.
So far, the flow has followed the steepest paths of descent identified by HVO fairly closely. But Brantley noted it remains difficult to identify topographic features around the breakout that could decide its path.
“It’s a pretty gentle sloped area out there,” he said.
The breakout remains the most active on the flow.
Another breakout that flowed into the Pahoa Waste Transfer station this week showed little activity within the $3.95 million facility, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense. Footage released by the county still showed lava oozing through the property’s fence.
A breakout also was active near the Pahoa cemetery.
Smoke conditions were moderate to heavy Friday morning, Civil Defense said. A light south wind was blowing the smoke toward the Ainaloa, Hawaiian Paradise Park and Keaau areas.
Air quality monitors installed near Pahoa did not detect any unsafe levels of pollution, Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira said.
Oliveira said the county is considering purchasing portable monitors to get a more comprehensive assessment of the flow’s impact on air quality.