HAWAIIAN OCEAN VIEW ESTATES, Hawaii: A long awaited, $6 million well project in the remote Hawaiian Ocean View Estates subdivision is ready to start providing residents with water. A special dedication ceremony has been scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 5th, at which time it is anticipated the well will be open and operational.

Project Status
At this time, the new source approvals for drinking water are in order. The official approval will be given in accordance with the June 26, 2012 final acceptance of the project by Department of Water Supply (DWS). Although the pump began tripping during attempts to re-fill the reservoir two weeks ago, recent pump tests yielded performance analyses that were acceptable to the manufacturer, contractor, and the DWS.

The DWS staff has compiled the final documents required by the Department of Health (DOH). DOH is in the process of submitting the documents for the anticipated approvals, which will allow for the facility to be used as a public water system. Concurrently, operations work crews are in the final stages of preparation of the system for imminent service to the public.

It is anticipated that the facility will open Thursday July 5, 2012 with an official dedication ceremony scheduled for 9:00 a.m. at the fill station site located at the corner of Lehua Lane and Highway 11 in Ocean View. It is important to note that if the facility can be put into service prior to the dedication event; the DWS will proceed with opening the facility. The official dedication ceremony will follow as scheduled. Light refreshments will be served.

Project Overview
This publicly funded $6 million project establishes a basic drinking water system complete with a well, storage tank, transmission pipeline, and fill station for the Ocean View community. To ensure encumbrance of State funds within a very short legislative timeline of 2 years, this project was procured as design-build that was executed in two phases: Phase 1, “Exploratory Well Development,” and Phase 2, “Production Well Development.” Phase 1 work entailed

• Phase 1 consultant procurement
• Acquisition of land and easement for the well-site, waterline and fill station
• Completion of an Environmental Assessment
• Completion of the exploratory well design
• Installation of required equipment and ancillary facilities to complete the exploratory well
• Completion of a conceptual design of Phase 2
• Conduct and Report on tests on the well, which would ultimately determine whether or not the well is suited to meet the needs of the project.

The second phase (Phase 2), “Production Well Development,” is ongoing at this time. This work entails the following:

• Complete 30% of the Phase 2 (Production Well) design and send out a Request for Proposals to all Contractors
• Hire a contractor to complete this phase within the budgeted amount, including completion of the remaining 70% of the design based on the tests results of the closeout of Phase 1
• Obtain all necessary approvals, permits, etc…for the final design
• Utilizing the final design, construct the facilities according to the plans, permits.

About the Dept. of Water Supply
The Department of Water Supply is a semi-autonomous agency of the County of Hawaii which operates by rules and regulations adopted by the Water Board. As a semi-autonomous agency, the Department operates and maintains its water systems with revenues generated wholly through water sales. The primary function of the Department is to provide safe domestic water service through its 24 water systems and 67 sources scattered throughout the island. The individual water systems are not interconnected except in the more densely populated districts of South Hilo and Kona. The Department continually strives to provide dependable, high quality, potable water at a reasonable cost.

SOURCE: Hawaii County Department of Water Supply