(BIVN) – The emergency repair work continues for the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates Deepwell.

The well went down in mid-November. By December, the Department of Water Supply reported that the contractor doing the repair work completed extraction of both pump and motor from well and confirmed that the motor is inoperable.

A spare motor was being transported to the site and the pump was sent to the manufacturers for refurbishing. Anticipated completion of the emergency repair is this month. In the meantime, the drinking water spigots at the well remain open for community access, while the standpipe facility for water haulers is closed until repairs can be completed.

Keith Okamoto, the Department’s Manager-Chief Engineer, talked to Sherry Bracken about the “challenging” well in Kaʻū.

“The challenge in that particular area is the the water itself has a lot of dissolved solids,” Okamoto explained. “The water temperature is actually warm. And we do know that there have been some power quality challenges in the region.”