But study finds safe drinking water on Kaua’i, elsewhere BY LESTER CHANG TGI Staff Writer The Kaua’i County Water Department has routinely asserted the island’s drinking water is safe. That assessment was echoed by the state auditor, who conducted a
But study finds safe drinking water on Kaua’i, elsewhere
BY LESTER
CHANG
TGI Staff Writer
The Kaua’i County Water Department has routinely
asserted the island’s drinking water is safe.
That assessment was echoed by
the state auditor, who conducted a study showing the Safe Drinking Water Branch
of the state Department of Health in 1999 ensured the public had safe drinking
water throughout the state.
But government water testing programs should be
improved to continue meeting clean-water standards, according to Auditor Marion
Higa.
The auditor’s office randomly tested water systems in Kekaha,
Waihawa, Anahola, Lawa’i, O’mao, Kekaha, Wailua and Kapa’a and found they met
chemical and microbiological monitoring federal requirements.
Water
Department manger Ernest Lau noted that the Safe Drinking Water Act,
reauthorized in 1996, is an increasingly complex set of regulations developed
to maintain the safety of drinking-water.
Despite the updating of the law,
the challenge is that most of the regulations are not funded by the federal
government. The burden is on the state’s drinking water program to implement
them with often limited resources, Lau said.
“It is not easy, but, I think
the Safe Drinking Water Branch is doing a good job,” Lau said. “Naturally,
there is always some room for improvement.”
Twenty-three other water
systems out of the 134 statewide also were randomly selected for testing and
were in compliance with federal and state requirements, the audit
noted.
The exception was a water system serving Mililani on O’ahu. Federal
and state laws require that systems serving between 33,001 and 41,000 persons
collect 40 coliform samples per month. The audit found 31 samples monthly or
fewer were taken in Mililani, which has a population of 34,681.
The state
branch acknowledged it did not catch the error, which was corrected after the
auditors brought reported it. As a result, Mililani will be required to notify
residents of its monitoring violation and potential adverse health effects in a
daily news paper.
A coliform count is used as an indicator of fecal
contamination.
On the upside, the auditor said the health department met
monitoring requirements for 1999, enforced violations of microbiolgical
standards in a timely manner, and followed proper water collection
procedures.
Auditors also determined the health department revived sanitary
survey programs, met public notice requirements and certified water treatment
plant operators like the counties.
On the downside, the audit found these
shortcomings with the state’s water monitoring system:
l Safeguards to
protect the integrity of water samples are unclear and require
clarification.
l Timely sanitary surveys and enforcement action against
serious drinking water violators have been lacking.
l A weak management
system has resulted in inefficient use of staff and inaccurate
computer-generated information.
l Inadequate staffing and lack of
long-term planning have led to the department’s inability to make the best use
of resources.
But the auditor said the director of health can rectify the
problems by requiring the Safety Drinking Water Branch to:
l Monitor for
bacteria, protozoa and viruses, pesticides, lead and copper and metals and
review monitoring results.
l Document water samples
appropriately.
l Complete sanitary surveys and develop a better program for
followup.
l The director of health to work with water treatment plants to
ensure water treatment plant operators are certified.
l Address violations
in a timely manner and ensure the public remains informed of them.
l
Initiate enforcement action sooner with the attorney general.
The state
health department has generally concurred with the conclusions and
recommendations of the audit.
Extra government funding has helped keep
Kaua’i’s water system reliable, Lau said.
“We have been fortunate to
receive funding from the Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Loan Fund program
for our Kokolau Tunnel Project,” Lau said. “The Health Department will be
providing us a low interest loan of about $1.8 million.
The audit for the
nearly 30 water systems was sent to Governor Ben Cayetano and the Legislature
for review.
Because of concerns about protecting water sources in the
nation the federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 was adopted.
In the late
1960s, as industrial and agricultural advances were made, many new chemical
found their way into the water and were suspected of causing health
problems.
By the early 1970s, this increased awareness prompted Congress
to approve several federal environmental and health laws dealing with polluted
water, pesticides and hazardous waste.
Federal law requires the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to set national drinking water standards and
gives EPA the authority to delegate responsibility for water quality to the
states.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext.
225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
