Waikiki, Ala Moana beaches reopened after sewage spill

The Hawaii State Department of Health authorized warning and “no swimming” signs removed along Waikiki beaches and Ala Moana Beach Park, even though a brown water advisory warning is still in effect.

Hawaii American Water issued a statement that on August 25, their plant across the street from the beach experienced a power disruption that affected their chlorine pumps.

Kawaoka said tests showed Ala Moana Beach Park and the stretch of Waikiki from Kahanamoku Beach, near the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, to Kapahulu Avenue were never impacted by the spill.

Shayne Enright, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Emergency Services, cautioned that the ocean was risky.

The volume was revised down from Tuesday, when officials said approximately 500,000 gallons of wastewater spilled.

However, officials are advising people not to go into the water at Sandy Beach at this time. “Everyone’s coming. We’ve ensured them that it’s going to be business as usual, and I think there will be minimal collateral damage”.

Officials said the Honolulu Zoo, which is in Waikiki, also flooded Monday, raising concern that untreated material from the zoo had entered the ocean.

City officials say one of two sewage pumping stations serving the area was out of commission due to a construction project, leaving the sewage system without sufficient capacity to handle the increased water. Other areas, such as Ala Wai Harbor and Kewalo Basin, are still under warnings.

Without the station operational, the sewer system was overwhelmed during heavy rain.

The entire state remained under a flash-flood watch again Tuesday, with more rain expected. Six of those storms reached super-typhoon status, which means they had maximum sustained winds over 150 miles per hour.

“The reason for the forecast of an above average tropical season in the Pacific this year is El Nino conditions”, Chevalier said in an email.