A map shows the area where Maui County is proposing to create a new underground treatment system and absorption field at the parking lot of the Hana Ball Park. The project aims to fix issues with the current wastewater system at nearby Helene Hall. Munekiyo Hiraga graphic
Just over $1 million in upgrades are being proposed to wastewater infrastructure at Helene Hall in Hana, where issues with the current system have caused a backup in wastewater that must be pumped out weekly.
The Maui County Department of Environmental Management is proposing to improve the existing wastewater reclamation system and relocate it by the parking lot of the Hana Ball Park about a quarter-mile mauka of Hana Bay.
The aerobic treatment units are currently “not functioning as designed” and are serving more as settling and holding tanks for wastewater before it is disposed of in cesspools, according to the final environmental assessment posted earlier this month in the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development’s “The Environmental Notice.”
Additionally, the cesspools do not have enough capacity to discharge the normal daily flows, which causes the wastewater to back up into the aerobic treatment unit system and requires staff to pump out the system with pumper trucks weekly, the report said.
The county is proposing to improve one of the aerobic treatment units with a new aeration blower and to repurpose the other as a wastewater pump station.
The wastewater will then be pumped uphill from Helene Hall to a new treatment system and absorption field located at the Hana Ball Park via an underground 1.5-inch diameter force main that runs approximately 1,500 feet along Keawa Place and Uakea Road, the report said.
Other improvements to Helene Hall’s infrastructure would help reduce pipe clogging and sewer backups.
Plans also call for providing a connection point for the existing preschool wastewater system for future connection to the proposed new aerobic treatment system.
“The improvements are anticipated to improve system operability, reliability, and treated water quality,” the report said. “The proposed treatment scheme provides aerobic pretreatment, which will enhance biological oxygen demand removal and reduce the size of the new treatment unit at the ball park.”
The estimated cost of the project is $1.3 million. Construction is anticipated to begin this year and to last about 12 months.
Upon project completion, the existing cesspools will be abandoned and closed, and the Maui County Department of Parks and Recreation will continue to operate and maintain Helene Hall and the parking lot of the Hana Ball Park.
* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.
A map shows the area where Maui County is proposing to create a new underground treatment system and absorption field at the parking lot of the Hana Ball Park. The project aims to fix issues with the current wastewater system at nearby Helene Hall. Munekiyo Hiraga graphicToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
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