The Hawai\u02bbi Water Service has a plan to encourage its customers to conserve water. You won\u2019t find it filed with the water use permit applications submitted to the Commission on Water Resource Management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the three-page plan does appear in the documents supporting the utility\u2019s rate hike application filed last month with the Public Utilities Commission. Implementing it is estimated to cost $250,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six components make up the plan. There\u2019s a proposal to give rebates to customers who replace plumbing fixtures and washing machines with more water-efficient ones. Residents who replace toilets can expect a $50 rebate, while Hawai\u02bbi Water Service anticipates giving rebates of up to $150 to customers installing high-efficiency washing machines. The utility also expects to distribute \u201cconservation kits\u201d to customers, which will include two high-efficiency shower heads, two bathroom faucet aerators, one kitchen faucet aerator, toilet-leak tablets, \u201cand an outside multi-function, full-stop hose nozzle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another element focuses on giving rebates to customers who install more efficient irrigation equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third element involves a \u201csmart landscape tune-up program,\u201d which looks at customers\u2019 irrigation programs and encourages installation of efficient irrigation system equipment. It also will give customers reports that compare their monthly consumption \u201cto a calculated water target,\u201d utilizing \u201ca water industry standard for creating water targets and budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conservation program will also look at ways to improve system efficiency and cutting waste. A 2022 audit of the system by the American Water Works Association gave HWS a score of 52 out of 100, based on system losses and customer meter inaccuracies, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A public information program that includes outreach to school students is yet another component. This would \u201cbuild on the Cal Water Tap Into Learning (TIL) program. TIL aligns with recognized education standards and offers a unique opportunity for teachers to facility their students\u2019 learning of standards-based content, while developing the core understanding of environmental principals necessary to become science-literate citizens.\u201d (There are no public schools in Kapalua.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, there\u2019s the administrative collaboration with organizations \u201cto promote and advance water use efficiency,\u201d including membership in the Alliance for Water Efficiency and partnering with the EPA\u2019s WaterSense program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Missing from the program is any mention of encouraging \u2013 much less requiring \u2013 the use of drought-tolerant plants in landscaping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what about curtailing water use if customers refuse to voluntarily cut their use? That, too, seems never to have occurred to the utility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Patricia Tummons<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Hawaiʻi Water Service has a plan to encourage its customers to conserve water. You won’t find it filed with the water use permit applications submitted to the Commission on Water Resource Management. But the three-page plan does appear in … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[544,28],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-16856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-december-2025","category-water","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}