Some North Kona residents should expect to continue a mandatory 25% water restriction for the next couple of months as the county works to get downed wells back online.
The restriction was implemented Tuesday after the Hualalai Deepwell’s pump motor failed during normal operation early Monday, said Department of Water Supply Manager-Chief Engineer Keith Okamoto.
The failure brought the total number of inoperable wells to four in the 14-well North Kona water system, which spans from Makalei to about Honalo. The restriction was called for because three of the down wells are concentrated in the northern edge of the system.
“If the four were spread out some in the north, some in the middle and some to the south, then the other sources (wells) would make up the difference in those regions. It would have been fine and just normal operations as we always anticipate some wells being out of service,” Okamoto said, adding that the wells failed in just two or three years, faster than expected but outside their warranties.
Areas in the 25% restriction are Makalei, Kalaoa, Kona Palisades, Keahole, Palamanui, Kohanaiki, Kaloko, Kaloko Mauka and Hualalai. Other North Kona areas, including Kahaluu, Keauhou, Kailua-Kona, Honokohau, Kealakehe, Keahuolu, Keopu, Holualoa and Waiaha, are under a “water conservation notice” calling for a 10% voluntary reduction in water use.
Okamoto said Thursday that the county doesn’t anticipate a full return to service of the Hualalai Deepwell until tentatively September because the submersible pump motor must be manufactured and then shipped or flown from the mainland. The department repairs nonsubmersible equipment locally, if possible.
While getting a pump here is likely to take months, residents in the 25% restriction area may not have to go that long on the mandatory cutback as Okamoto anticipates the county could have a different well in the northern region back in operation by mid- to late-July.
At that time, Okamoto said, the county hopes to complete interim repairs to Kalaoa Deepwell, bringing it back into service using spare power cable already in inventory.
With Kalaoa back in service, Okamoto said DWS would likely be able to revert from the 25% restriction to a request for continued conservation of 10%.
“If we can restore one of those north sources back into operation, it will really help us out,” he said.
A schedule for getting the Makalei and Waiaha deepwells back online was not provided.
While it would seem prudent to have spare equipment on-hand for these types of repairs, especially in the wake of 2017 when the county struggled to get wells back online and a 25% restriction remained in place for over a year, Okamoto said there are two reasons the county only has backups of certain equipment.
First, the county and its vendors are limited in vertical storage for such deep-set well equipment, which can measure 20 feet to 30 feet and must be moved periodically. Second, any warranty on equipment — typically only a year — runs during storage time.
“That’s the other risk that we take with spare pumps and motors,” Okamoto said. “If it doesn’t work, tough luck, your back to the same situation as if you didn’t have it on hand.”
The department is also working to have more standardized equipment as part of its overall equipment management plan.
“But it is a gradual process,” he said. “Some wells do use the same equipment, but other wells have pumps/motors that have been made-to-order. The fact is that every well is different: the size, capacity, depth, electrical feeds vary depending on the well. However, we are moving towards have more interchangeable equipment so that we can address repairs more efficiently. Interchangeable equipment would mostly be limited to the motor equipment, as pumps are specific to each well due to well depth and other characteristics.”