Some populated areas of Maui are looking at months or even years before their water systems are fully and safely restored following the wildfires that devastated the island last month.
FILE - Volunteers make food, bottle water and supply deliveries to elderly residents impacted by a devastating wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug. 19, 2023. Residents of Maui are eager to learn when they can expect safe drinking water to be restored in the wake of last months catastrophic wildfires, but extensive testing is still needed and officials are urging patience.
But experts and history suggest it could take months or years before the worst of the damaged areas have safe water fully restored.The county first told people in Upper Kula and Lahaina not to use their water on Aug. 11 shortly after fire damaged water pipes as it sped across the land. So far, one water quality test on the northwest edge of Lahaina showed low levels of benzene, a chemical known to cause cancer, but it was within federal safety limits.
Where homes and other structures burned, so did their interior pipes, along with shallow-buried exterior ones that connected them to the public water line, and the water meters, Stufflebean said. The utility's networks of reservoirs, pumps, wells and treatment plants on Maui weren't affected, and it's unlikely that main lines — thick pipes buried more deeply — burned, he said.
“We’re almost approaching our two-year mark. And as we’ve cleaned up the properties and people are starting to rebuild, we are still doing protocols of testing service lines to verify there’s no contamination,” he said. Stufflebean's department will soon expand the number of chemicals it's testing for, he told a room packed with residents in Kula, a mountainside community about 24 miles from Lahaina, last week. The residents were told not to drink or bathe in their water until further testing is completed.
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After Maui's wildfires, thousands brace for long process of restoring safe water serviceSome populated areas of Maui are looking at months or even years before their water systems are fully and safely restored following the wildfires that devastated the island last month.
Read more »
After Maui's wildfires, thousands brace for long process of restoring safe water serviceSome populated areas of Maui are looking at months or even years before their water systems are fully and safely restored following the wildfires that devastated the island last month
Read more »
After Maui's wildfires, thousands brace for long process of restoring safe water serviceSome populated areas of Maui are looking at months or even years before their water systems are fully and safely restored following the wildfires that devastated the island last month
Read more »
After Maui's wildfires, thousands brace for long process of restoring safe water serviceSome populated areas of Maui are looking at months or even years before their water systems are fully and safely restored following the wildfires that devastated the island last month
Read more »
After Maui's wildfires, thousands brace for long process of restoring safe water serviceSome populated areas of Maui are looking at months or even years before their water systems are fully and safely restored following the wildfires that devastated the island last month.
Read more »