Mysterious discharge clouds waters at Hawaii harbor

Originally posted by ZeroReady
I just got back from the harbor. Took some pics and video of the storm drain in question. It's definitely still spewing cloudy water. When I got there, the harbormaster from the news video was there looking at the drain too. I started taking pictures, and he asked me what business I had in the harbor. It was obvious he didn't want me there. I told him I'd seen the story about the storm drain on the news and I wanted to come check it out to see if it was still spewing murky water into the ocean, because I care about the environment and I get worried when unknown crap is flowing into the ocean.

He said the pictures on the web were fine, and I didn't need to take anymore. I told him they aren't fine because they're 2 days old. If the stuff has been coming out of the drain for 2 days, at the rate I saw it flowing, then there is a lot of whatever it is.

I asked him if they knew what it was yet and he said they're still running tests. They know it's fresh water, not salt. They know it is not gray water from hotels. They shut off the flow from the artisan well nearby, and they stuff is still coming out. So it isn't from the well either.

Originally posted by VariableConstant
reply to post by Isolation

 

This may not be entirely correct, as I've never really looked in to it, but I was living on Oahu for a bit several years ago, and I recall hearing that a lot of land was actually artificially built up on coral that was dredged from offshore.

So here's a scary thought: what if a large section of underground pipe has broken, and the water is eroding the substrate, washing out the silt and creating a hollow space that would eventually open up a sinkhole?

Hopefully the cause is something more benign, but I'd say it is a possibility.

It's interesting you brought this up, because the harbormaster said the best theory right now is that it's crushed up coral. I was about to ask why crushed coral was flowing into the ocean, and where it was coming from, then he just got into a car and left all of a sudden. I felt like he was being kind of weird. Maybe he was just stressed out from dealing with a possible environmental problem in his harbor.

So the first pic is from right near the storm drain itself. There are no fish around.

...

This is fantastic!

Citizen journalism/reporting via ATS at its finest!!!

You should take some samples yourself and send them to an independent lab... as long as the cost is reasonable, couldn't hurt.

reply to post by Isolation

seems odd it took 3 days to realise it was a watermain if you have a street around the corner with customers complaining that their water is out.

A cracked main doesn't mean water service is lost but it does mean a lot of water is wasted.

Because the water break was not visible from the surface, and at least at first there was not enough water being lost to register in the system, the Board of Water Supply did not notice the leak.

www.hawaiireporter.com...

I wonder if a plume from Japan finally reaching Hawaii could find its way to the water source feeding the artesian well that this drain is flushed with? Here is an article predicting debris (and obviously contaminated water). Reaching the area during this time period.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

reply to post by Isolation


As far as I know there were no reports of customers without water. The delay on the other hand is so totally common for this Island. They don't usually do things in a timely fashion around these parts, even when it seems they would want to hurry and solve the issue. Just like the bumper stickers say 'Slow down, this aint the mainland'.

here is an update it seems they found the source and it is a leak in the main they just didn't see the effects on the water meters because of the large volume of water they pump through daily. an estimated 6 million gallons leaked out over 3 days.

UPDATE: Crews discover source of mystery plume

Unfortunately because this was an underground leak, there wasn't anything visible that we could see from the streets so this morning we dispatched several leak detection teams in the area and they found a leak in an eight-inch main on Kawaiahao Street," said Kurt Tsue of the Board of Water Supply. At 1 p.m., repair crews made their way to the eight-inch main. Word of the discovery made its way through the busy harbor. "Mystery finally solved," said Barclay. "It's not sewage that's coming into the harbor, so the water is not as contaminated as it could be, there's still quite a bit of particulate matter."

Thi was a big deal a couple a days ago... whats up?
Is the mystery stuff coming from we don't know where been identified and stopped or what?
Thought so.

reply to post by intrptr


I'm going back to the storm drain tomorrow to get more pictures, hopefully talk to the harbormaster again.

I will post updates here.

If you're still curious please see my updated thread:

Update on cloudy discharge in Kewalo Basin Harbor, Hawaii