Septic Tank Disposal

  • Where does your drinking water come from?

    Drinking water is transported from surface and groundwater, then it enters the resident's home and is used for household activities and flushed down the toilet or drain.

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  • Where does your waste water go?

    Untreated wastewater flows into a subterranean septic tank where solids are removed by settling to produce wastewater treated to "primary" standards.

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  • Waste water reaches the pacific ocean

    The infected primary effluent discharge flows through groundwater toward the Pacific Ocean, where it emerges often through the reef itself, via openings that present as direct pathways from the contaminated groundwater to the reef, similar to the flow shown with green dye in the video below.

    See wastewater exiting the reef at Kahekili Beach Maui

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  • Drinking Water Sources

    Interesting Facts about Drinking Water Sources

    From County of Maui: "If you live in Upcountry Maui, your water is surface water from the streams in East Maui. It's treated and disinfected at one of our three water treatment facilities (Kamole, Piiholo, Olinda) before it's delivered to your home. Customers in Haiku get their water from the Haiku or Kaupakalua wells and/or the Kamole Weir. Hana and Molokai also use groundwater. Lahaina has a mix of surface water and groundwater. The water treatment facilities for West Maui are located above Lahainaluna School and near the Kapalua Airport.

    For Central Maui (Kahului, Wailuku, Waihe'e, Waikapū, Waiehu, Ma'alaea, Kihei, Wailea, Makena, Sprecklesville and Paia) your water is from surface and groundwaters of Na Wai Eha, Maui’s Four Great Waters of West Maui, which includes the ‘Īao Aquifer under the West Maui Mountains. That water is naturally filtered by lava rocks, disinfected, and sent to your home. A small amount of filtered surface water is added to the Central System at the Iao WTF."

    The Iao and Waihee aquifer region has been designated by the Commission on Water Resources Management as a “water management area” due to over pumping. This points out that water reuse can alleviate stress on our primary drinking water source for Central & South Maui.

    Na Wai Eha, The Four Great Waters of West Maui

    Na Wai Eha, The Four Great Waters of West Maui

  • Disposal Method

    Septic tank disposal method

    Resident Disposal Method

    100%

    Infected Groundwater Disposal

Do You Know What Happens After You Flush?

Learn About Your Waste Water Journey