Waikiki, Hawaii Faces Sewage Outfall Threat

When people think of Hawaii, what probably comes to mind is Waikiki, the tourist mecca. And when they think of Waikiki, what likely comes to mind is the world famous Waikiki Beach. So what if Waikiki Beach was shut down because of polluted water? Chances are the word association game might turn out a little differently. Well, the shut down of beaches adjacent to Waikiki Beach did happen recently because of contaminated water and a reply of that scenario, and in the worst case a shutdown of Waikiki itself, is a possibility at some point in the future according to an article that just came out in the Dec 2007 edition of the Journal of Environmental Health.

On March 24, 2006, a day that Honolulu residents refer to as the "Big Spill," 48 million gallons of raw sewage were "purposely" diverted into a waterway known as the Ala Wai Canal. The cause of the Spill: a sewer line break combined with massive a downpour of rain. Prior to the Big Spill, the Ala Wai Canal was already polluted because of upstream runoff and dumping from communities in Honolulu proper, and the Big Spill just made an already bad situation worse. The Ala Wai, for those familiar with Honolulu, runs on the mauka (mountain) side of Waikiki. . And what was worse is that the Ala Wai flows into the ocean right next to Waikiki.

A saving grace is that the typical ocean current in Hawaiian waters pushes outflow from the Ala Wai Canal away from Waikiki. But ocean currents have been known to shift during certain weather conditions. And if such was the case on March 24, 2006 and the days following it, Waikiki Beach would've been shutdown, the tourist industry would have taken a major hit in the short term with perhaps longterm ramifications thereafter.

Nonetheless, beaches and ocean areas near Waikiki were shutdown for nearly two weeks after the Big Spill until contamination levels dropped. Affected were thousands of local residents and visitors who use the beach and the Ala Wai for leisure and recreational purposes.

In the aftermath of the Big Spill, the city of Honolulu initiated the Beachwalk Wastewater Emergency Bypass (BWEB) project, which includes a temporary bypass line that runs above ground on both sides of the Ala Wai to prevent future diversions of wastewater into the canal and thus into the ocean off of Waikiki. The project, which is in progress, is projected to cost $20 million, with part of the funds being used to repair the March 2006 pipeline break as well as for environmental assessment and cleanup.

A major storm ripped Oahu last week (early Dec. 2007) and tested the new bypass. According to the BWEB website, "the bypass system weathered the storm and wasn't activated."

Reference:

Venzon Jr., Nel C. "Massive Discharge of Untreated Sewage into the Ala Wai Canal (Oahu, Hawaii): A Threat to Waikiki'sWaters?" Journal of Environmental Health; Dec 2007, Vol. 70 Issue 5, p25-30.