WASTEWATER SYSTEMS
NOTICE OF
VARIANCE APPLICATION NO. W W 214
DOCKET NO. 06 – V W W – 03

Pursuant to H.R.S. §342D-7(i), Hawaii Revised Statutes, the State Department of Health (DOH) seeks written comments from interested persons regarding the following. Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture H-Power, located at 91-174 Hanua Street, Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii, TMK: (1)9-1-026:030, has applied for a five (5) year variance from Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR) Section 11-62-03 Definitions which states “Individual wastewater system means a facility which is designed to receive and dispose of no more than 1000 gallons per day of domestic wastewater. Individual wastewater systems may involve treatment processes and include, but are not limited to, septic tanks and household aerobic units with disposal system and cesspools. Each individual wastewater system shall be an independent system and shall have all of its plumbing, treatment (if any), and disposal components separate from any other wastewater system.”
Mr. Jason Lau of The Limtiaco Consulting Group, Honolulu, Hawaii, is the individual authorized to act for the applicant. The applicant is requesting use of an individual wastewater system to serve several building facilities with an estimated domestic wastewater flow of 3,150 gpd. The wastewater System will consist of a 5,000 gallon septic tank and an absorption bed.
The applicant has made the following comments.
1 The large capacity septic system proposed to serve the facility would not comply with HAR, Section 11-62-03 because the IWS would receive more than 1,000 gallons per day of wastewater. The estimated flow into the system would be 3,150 gallons per day.
2. The existing large capacity cesspool(s) must be closed and replaced with a new treatment individual wastewater system by April 5, 2005 in order to comply with federal requirements.
3. The applicant believes this variance request is in the public interest because the LCC will be upgraded to an IWS (septic system). The IWS plans will be designed by an engineer and will be submitted to DOH for review and approval. The new IWS will provide a better wastewater treatment system compared to the existing LCC. Therefore minimizes impact to the environment.
4. The existing LCC will be upgraded to an IWS (septic system). The IWS will provide a better treatment system prior to effluent disposal. The IWS will be designed and constructed to meet the Department of Health standards. The impact to the environment will be minimized compared to the current wastewater disposal.
5. The proposed treatment individual wastewater systems will provide greater protection than the large capacity cesspools. The proposed IWS is an improvement to the existing cesspool in terms of wastewater treatment. The septic tank will provide pretreatment and sludge removal prior to effluent disposal.
6. The variance is requested for the maximum of five (5) years. With proper implementation, septic systems are a safe and effective method for onsite wastewater treatment that can be sustained for years. To ensure that this septic system is maintained and correctly implemented, an operations and maintenance manual will be provided to the Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture, H-Power. Compliance with this manual should extend the useful life of this septic system beyond the five years, and thus a variance for greater than five years is being requested. Furthermore, construction of additional building facilities is not anticipated and additional sewer connections are expected.
A wastewater site plan is attached to this application for variance but can not be shown here. If you would like to review the full application, please call or write to the Wastewater Branch, 919 Ala Moana Boulevard, Room 309, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814-4920, telephone (808) 586-4294 or fax (808) 586-4300 to obtain a copy or facsimile.
DOH will consider all written comments received within thirty days of this notice. If warranted, DOH may hold a public hearing on the variance application, after a separate thirty-day public notice. The final decision will be made on the basis of the application, related documents, written comments and the public hearing, if any.

CHIYOME LEINAALA FUKINO, M.D.
Director of Health (SB03509144 3/25/06)