The county Department of Environmental Management is looking for all possible alternatives to reuse our recycled wastewater so that we no longer have to depend on injection wells to dispose of treated effluent. Maui County’s recycled water is clean enough to be able to be used to irrigate landscape, agriculture, forest reserves, biocrops and much more.

This is possible because our wastewater goes through as thorough a treatment process as possible without making the water actually potable, or drinkable. Our R-1 treatment includes membrane filtration and ultraviolet disinfection.

In Maui County we use recycled water at more locations than any other island, including at Kaanapali, Maui Nui, Pukalani, Makena and Manele golf courses, as well as at Kihei Elementary and Lokelani Intermediate schools. There are also a number of parks, bikeways, resorts, condominiums, community centers, shopping centers, libraries and fire stations that use our recycled water.

All told, the county distributes 1.3 billion gallons of recycled wastewater across all three islands for reuse in some form or another. That is nearly 4 million gallons reused daily. While that is a lot of recycled wastewater, it’s less than 30 percent of the wastewater treated at county facilities daily. That’s why in order to use more water we must get aggressive to find more alternate uses. So far we’ve spent $40 million on our wastewater treatment facilities to better clean our water so that it can be used for irrigation purposes.

These expenditures include feasibility studies, construction of distribution systems as well as treatment upgrades and modifications to UV and filter systems.

When the county’s wastewater reclamation facilities were built in the 1970s, disposal of excess recycled water in deep injection wells was advocated as a much more environmentally sustainable practice than ocean outfalls, taking advantage of the earth’s natural filtration of groundwater as it moves seaward.

Today, the county is again at the forefront of water resuse advocacy. We have many projects in the works in almost every district and they are progressing steadily:

• Kihei — The department will be soliciting bids next month for the construction of a new 1 million-gallon recycled water storage tank, which will double the amount of storage for distribution of recycled water to customers in South Maui. A second tank will also will also increase system reliability and enable the community to reuse more recycled water daily. This project is anticipated to cost $6.5 million once completed.

The county is also moving forward with an agricultural/land application project near the Kihei Wastewater Reclamation Facility. Recycled wastewater will be used to irrigate 150 acres of county-owned land for a forest reserve/plant nursery. This project is estimated to cost $750,000.

• Lahaina — We plan to pump recycled water to a reservoir at the 800-foot elevation level. From there we can store and redistribute more recycled water to West Maui than ever before. The cost of this project will be $800,000.

• Kahului/Wailuku — We are coordinating with the state Department of Transportation, Airports Division, to provide it with recycled water. This includes a renewable power generation project near Kahului Airport that will use 500 acres of biocrop as a feed source. This could utilize up to 4 million gallons of recycled water daily from the Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility.

The county is also investigating use of soil aquifer treatment basins as an advanced and environmentally sound means of disposing of any excess recycled water. These projects will each cost between $10 million to $6 million for infrastructure.

• Molokai — We are working with landowners near the Kaunakakai Wastewater Reclamation Facility on the potential for land application for the recycled water for agricultural irrigation use. This project includes a $1.3 million upgrade to our filter system there.

This change in philosophy is not inexpensive. When all is said and done, the county will have spent nearly $100 million in capital costs plus many millions in annual operational and land-acquisition costs in order to more fully utilize recycled water. This will make increases for sewer user and recycled water user fees necessary for the future.

However, once we bear this financial liability, instead of injecting unused recycled water into wells it will be used to help keep our county productive, green and beautiful.

* “Our County,” a column from Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa, discusses county issues and activities of county government. The column usually appears on the first and third Fridays of the month.