LIHU‘E — County officials closed Kalapaki Beach Thursday morning after a substantial sewage spill Wednesday evening at the Lihu‘e Wastewater Treatment Plant on Ninini Point Street above Kaua‘i Lagoons Golf Course. Kalapaki Beach remains closed while officials await water quality
LIHU‘E — County officials closed Kalapaki Beach Thursday morning after a substantial sewage spill Wednesday evening at the Lihu‘e Wastewater Treatment Plant on Ninini Point Street above Kaua‘i Lagoons Golf Course.
Kalapaki Beach remains closed while officials await water quality test results from the state Department of Health, states a county press release. Initial test results won’t be available until at least this afternoon.
A partial power outage at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Lihu‘e Wastewater Treatment Plant caused between 400,000 and 500,000 gallons of treated effluent to spill into the storm drain that leads into Kalapaki Bay, according to county officials.
“The cause of the electrical failure has not yet been determined,” county spokeswoman Sarah Blane said. “However, officials believe it occurred within the plant and did not involve KIUC.”
The partial electrical failure appears to have occurred in an internal circuit, and did not involve KIUC, county officials said in press release Thursday afternoon.
Blane said the power failure shut down the filter and disinfection system, but not the pumps to the filter and disinfection system, causing the spill of partially treated sewage.
Officials have determined the spill occurred between the secondary treatment process and the tertiary treatment process, and was limited to secondary treated effluent.
Signs notifying beachgoers of the closure will remain posted along the beach until the water is deemed safe for swimming. The public is advised to stay out of the water until the signs are removed.
County crews continue to follow DOH direction in the management of the spill.
