KAPA‘A — Virtually every home, school and business along Kawaihau Road in Kapa‘a and lots of neighbors in surrounding areas will be without water from 9 p.m. today to around 4 a.m. Friday, a county Department of Water spokesperson said Wednesday.
Water will be shut off during those hours in order to allow DOW workers to install a connecting pipeline to a new 500,000-gallon, water-storage tank in Kapa‘a, said Faith Shiramizu, DOW spokesperson.
While this work is being done, water in the area needs to be turned off.
Around 2,700 homes and an estimated 8,000 people will be affected, she said.
The areas that will be affected are Keapana, Kapahi and Kapa‘a Homesteads, including all three Kapa‘a public schools and Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital.
An attempt to reach a hospital spokesperson for comment was unsuccessful by press time.
A detailed map of all the affected streets can be viewed at www.kauaiwater.org.
Residents in the area should prepare for the outage by storing enough water to meet their needs for the evening.
Shiramizu said people with electric water heaters should turn them off at circuit breakers to prevent damage to the heaters should water levels in the heaters drop during the outage.
Those with gas water heaters should turn thermostats to “vacation” or “pilot” settings, and residents are also asked to notify their neighbors about the outage, she said.
Residents are asked to eat dinner early and allow enough time for dinner cleanup and showering before the water goes off around 9 p.m., she said.
Residents should store enough water for drinking, brushing teeth and flushing toilets, she said. One suggestion is to fill up a bathtub to have enough water to flush toilets.
For those who need water during the outage, a water tanker will be parked at Kapahi Park. Residents should bring their own containers, Shiramizu said.
The DOW apologizes for the inconvenience and thanks affected residents for their patience and cooperation in preparing for the water outage.
The improvements in the Kapa‘a area are part of the DOW Water Plan 2020, a comprehensive, long-range planning effort to ensure that safe, affordable and sufficient drinking water is provided to Kaua‘i residents over the next two decades.
For more information, please call the DOW at 245-5455 between 7:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., or the Kaua‘i Police Department dispatch line at 241-1711 for emergencies after business hours.
