KAILUA-KONA — A water main broke open Monday afternoon on Alii Drive, leading to flooding of the roadway that spilled into the underground parking area at Waterfront Row.
The main was carrying fresh water and did not cause a biohazard, so those out strolling were able to scale rock walls or splash their way through the giant, ankle-high puddles and navigate around the inconvenience.
The water supplying the main was shut off and the flooded areas slowly drained through the sea wall. The parking lot at Waterfront Row was still draining as of late Monday afternoon.
The section of Alii Drive between Hualalai Road extending south toward the Huggo’s area was closed to through traffic, but Darren Okimoto of Hawaii County Department of Water Supply said the road should be ready for travel by some time Monday evening.
“Excavation usually takes the longest,” he explained. “In this case, we were able to get it opened up pretty quickly. Once they cut the pipe and splice in a new section, not too bad, a couple hours maybe. The biggest problem after we repair the pipe will be to repair the road and clean it up.”
The Department of Public Works will provide assistance to roadway cleanup Tuesday, but the pavement should be patched up well enough by Monday evening to accommodate traffic.
DWS workers had finished excavation and undertaken pipe maintenance some time between 4-4:30 p.m.
Okimoto said the crack in the main probably occurred due to old age. A stressor of some type could have been a contributing factor, but based on investigation, he believed general wear and tear was the likely cause.
Maryrose Riddle, an employee at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. just across the section of Alii Drive where the main broke, described how quickly the thoroughfare turned into a shallow canal.
“It was like the rock wall had a bunch of little holes in it and water was just shooting out into the road,” she said. “At first, it didn’t seem too bad, but then it just flooded this whole street right here. Then it started coming up to the restaurant and pouring down into the parking lot.”
The restaurant was forced to close for a few hours during the day as water to properties on the makai side of the road was cut off. But management received a call from the Department of Health in the early afternoon indicating it was safe to resume business.
As a precautionary measure, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. flushed its pipes, letting water run through all its faucets for roughly 30 minutes, then opened back up.
Not all businesses were so lucky, however.
Two water mains service Alii Drive, one from the Alii side and the other from the Kuakini Highway side. Okimoto said the department did all it could to inform proprietors of potential problems, but because of the setup, some businesses might retain running water while others on the same lot would be forced operate without it.
Several businesses on the mauka side of the road south of the leak source remained without running water into early Monday evening. Some chose to shut down for the day.
“We are closing, and that is a huge bummer,” said Leslie Fischer, owner of Lava Java, which packed up for the day a little after 4 p.m.
Fischer was contacted and warned her water might be cut off. The hope was that it would be turned back on between 6-7 p.m, but Fischer said closing still made the most sense as starting to serve dinner after dark probably wouldn’t be worth it.
Chris Colby, owner of Island Ono Loa Grill, lost his running water but continued on undeterred.
“We had low water pressure all morning, and it got turned off about 2:30 (p.m.) or so,” he said. “We were not affected by it really, other than we can’t sell soft drinks. Our sinks are already full from this morning, so we can wash dishes. Customers can still get water because the water jug is still full.”
Humpy’s Big Island Alehouse planned on serving customers throughout the evening despite losing access to running water. Laverne’s Sports Bar next door still had working restroom, where Humpy’s patrons will be sent if needed.
The bars were told full water service would be restored by no later than 10 p.m. But that’s a little later than Okimoto expected. At around 4:30 p.m., he estimated all the water would be back on and his crew would be out of the street within a few hours.