What happened to the “purple pipe” expansion and extension in our district?

10/11/24  #kihei

Once waste water has been treated to a higher quality product it is labeled R-1. (R-0 is drinkable). it is transported in  purple pipes to designate it is not potable water

When the County “Wastewater Reclamation Plant” mauka of the Pi’ilani Hwy is finished  treating and turning a waste product  into  a potential resource, what do they do with it? Too much of it is pumped into the ground via injection wells to just get rid of it. Then it ultimately seeps into the Kai. Why is not all of it distributed via those purple pipes?  Going back to the last century, the 1998 community plan  includes: “Protect the quality of nearshore waters by ensuring that land-based discharges meet water quality standards. Continued monitoring of existing and future waste disposal systems is necessary to ensure their efficient operation. Programs should be implemented to reduce the reliance on injection wells for wastewater disposal.”  Yet it was 2014 before added distribution lines were added in North Kihei so that the processed wastewater could be used for irrigation.

A line was run makai on Waipuilani across South Kihei Rd to Waipuilani Park and then North across the Park under the Waipuilani Stream Gulch to Kulanihako’i Street

The purple pipes were run under the stream gulch

And since then it has not increased at all for over a decade. As 2024 winds down the County Council is considering a resolution to ask the Administration to expand the use across the County, with emphasis on the West Side to help with housing. Our decades long effort was focused on environmental factors: protecting the coral reef infrastructure and save our limited potable water on Maui for human consumption. But whatever the motivation, expanding the lines is beneficial to our community in that the processed wastewater is used for irrigation instead of for killing our coral reefs.

More pipes

Where do the purple pipes run in Kihei???  https://mauigis.org/maps/?d=m26juz01hfi9ugal26g&s