LIHU‘E – After reviewing the results of two rounds of water quality tests, state Department of Health officials determined this morning that Kalapaki Beach should remain closed at least through the end of today. State and county officials are continuing
LIHU‘E – After reviewing the results of two rounds of water quality tests, state Department of Health officials determined this morning that Kalapaki Beach should remain closed at least through the end of today.
State and county officials are continuing to monitor the situation.
Signs notifying beachgoers of the closure will remain posted along Kalapaki Beach until health officials deem it safe for the public to return. The public is advised to stay out of the water until the signs are removed.
Updated information will be released as it becomes available.
The beach has been closed since Thursday morning after it was reported that between 400,000 and 500,000 gallons of treated sewage had spilled into a storm drain that leads into Kalapaki Bay.
The spill occurred at approximately 5 p.m. on Wednesday following a partial power outage at the Lihu‘e Wastewater Treatment Plant. The cause of the outage was due to an internal circuit that powers the newly installed tertiary plant processes required to produce R-1 quality irrigation water. The outage did not involve Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative.
Officials have taken the necessary steps to prevent a reccurrence of Wednesday’s spill and have limited the production of R-1 quality irrigation water used at the Kaua‘i Lagoons golf courses until a new alarm system that monitors power interruptions has been installed and tested in the tertiary plant facility at the Lihu‘e treatment plant.
