LIHU‘E – The Kaua‘i Board of Water Supply and Department of Water Manager and Chief Engineer David Craddick recognized a five-member crew in the Operations Division as the Department’s Employees of the Quarter during the board’s monthly meeting last week.
LIHU‘E – The Kaua‘i Board of Water Supply and Department of Water Manager and Chief Engineer David Craddick recognized a five-member crew in the Operations Division as the Department’s Employees of the Quarter during the board’s monthly meeting last week.
“The crew demonstrated outstanding teamwork during the recent heavy rain storms that wreaked havoc on the island of Kaua‘i last month that merits outstanding recognition,” Craddick said.
The honorees include: Neal Iseri, Waterworks electrician/plant electrical tradesperson; Darwin Bukoski, plant electrician helper; and David Okamoto, Lance Nakata and Galen Shigeta, water plant operators.
The crew was recognized for superior service and unselfish devotion to duties performed during the heavy rain storms and the weeks following the event. The storm required long hours at all times of the day and night to perform emergency corrective maintenance in order to keep the department’s wells operational and provide uninterrupted service to customers, which included:
• Three burned motors.
• Power failures at more than 15 sites from Kekaha to Ha‘ena that required troubleshooting.
• Two separate main line breaks (one in Anahola and the other in Koloa) that were found and isolated prior to the tanks emptying.
• Three booster pump sites that required motor control center (MCC) repair to restore operation.
• Communication failures at more than 20 sites that threatened automatic pump and tank operation.
“The quick response, teamwork and technical knowledge of the above- mentioned employees reflect a great credit upon them and were in keeping with the highest standards of the Water Department,” said Val Reyna, chief of the Operations Division.
