PAPAIKOU, Hawaii – 7,600 gallons of wastewater was discharged into the ocean from the Papaikou Wastewater Treatment Plant on Tuesday afternoon between the hours of 1:30 p.m. and 4:20 p.m.
The discharge was the result of a failure of the chlorination/dechlorination system. Hawaii County officials say the wastewater didn’t present any harm to the public because it was chlorinated and thus disinfected. However, since the effluent bypassed the dechlorination process prior to discharge to the ocean, the need for a report to the Department of Health was triggered.
Warning signs were posted along shoreline as required for spills to surface waters and areas that could be accessible to the public.
The area of the closure is mostly inaccessible, but it is just a few hundred yards to the north of the popular Papaikou Mill beach.
The shoreline was re-opened on Wednesday.
