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Water Quality
Did you swim in or drink polluted water that may have caused an infection or made you sick? Report it here:
Learn About Water Quality
Check Out Our StoryMap:
Water Quality Studies of Hawaiʻi
Learn about cesspools and their environmental impact
Look through a set of maps of water quality studies georeferenced by watershed throughout the Hawaiian islands
See the science in your watershed or favorite beach
Learn about what causes land-based pollution and water quality issues in Hawaiʻi.
Check out Howʻs My Waterway?
Select your state, tribe or territory from the drop down to begin exploring water quality.
Where to Find Water Quality Data
The Hawaiʻi Department of Health - Clean Water Branch (DOH-CWB)
Tests water quality at high-use beaches weekly and reports information on fecal indicator bacteria. Beach closures are issued when exceedances in water quality indicators are found. You can sign up to receive notifications for ongoing water quality advisories here.
Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force (BWTF)
A citizen science program that tests for fecal indicator bacteria at beaches. This program helps extend the coverage of the DOH’s beach monitoring program and includes areas at high risk for pollution. Currently, there are active BWTF labs on O‘ahu and Maui, and you can access historical data for Kaua’i and Big Island.
Measures coastal waters on Maui for sediments, nutrients, and other land-based inputs that negatively impact water quality.
Based on the Big Island and similar to their Maui counterpart, Hawaiʻi Wai Ola measure sediments, nutrients, and other water quality parameters.
The Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa manages real-time data, including nearshore turbidity, salinity, and chlorophyll data measured via nearshore sensors.
Additional Resources
Click here to download an educational PDF packet with information on cesspool pollution, how to detect wastewater pollution in the environment, pathogens, and drinking water pollution.
Even if you can’t convert your cesspool right now, there are small steps you can take to reduce your impact. Click here to learn how!
Swimming in or drinking polluted water can cause infections or make you sick. We want to learn where people are getting sick most often, so please click below to report your exposure.
Water Contaminants
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Sewage pollution contains chemical contaminants and many types of harmful bacteria, parasites, and viruses that can make swimmers sick. Swimmers who come into contact with wastewater pollution can develop gastroinestinal illness and various infections. Click HERE to learn what types of microorganisms you may encounter in sewage-contaminated water. Where does sewage pollution come from in Hawai'i?
Cesspools are a substandard waste disposal method in which household wastewater is discharged into a hole in the ground with no treatment. Over 88,000 cesspools in Hawai'i discharge more than 53 million gallons of sewage into the ground every day. This pollution can reach groundwater, streams and the coastal ocean, spreading pathogens into the environment and making waters unsafe for swimming. The nutrients and contaminants in wastewater are harmful to coral reef ecosystems and drinking water quality.
Septic systems, while better than cesspools, still cause nutrient pollution in the environment via nutrient rich effluent that is disposed of in the leach field. Excess nutrients can cause invasive algae to overgrow coral reefs, and high nitrate in drinking water is associated with higher rates of certain cancers. Click HERE to check out some advanced pollution-reducing technologies to replace cesspools and septic systems.
Injection wells and private wastewater treatment plants are another source of sewage contamination. Injection wells discharge treated wastewater underground, as opposed to an ocean outfall, but the wastewater has been shown to enter the reef environments nearby via groundwater. The sheer volume of effluent contributes to high pollutant loading and negative effects on the coral reef in many areas of Hawaiʻi, including Lahaina, the focus of a recent Supreme Court case.
Municipal sewer spills, leaks, and failures are caused by corrosion, sewage infiltration to groundwater, groundwater infiltration to overwhelmed treatment facilities, and limits in sewer line capacity. Aging infrastructure is a major challenge for Hawai'i and has created a persistent and pervasive water quality hazard.
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Invasive animals contribute to water pollution by harming and uprooting native plants, which increases sedimentation, and by introducing their waste products to the watershed. Pigs, goats, deer, feral cats, and other mammals were introduced to Hawai'i and have negative impacts on the native forest ecosystem. In addition to physical damage to native forests, these invasive animals spread Leptospirosis and Cryptosporidiosis, which cause illness in humans. Family groups of feral pigs leave significant amounts of urine and feces in and around the water at wallow sites, and silt, excrement and potentially harmful pathogens are washed downstream. Decomposing carcasses represent an additional water quality threat.
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Erosion in Hawai'i is aggravated by invasive ungulates (deer, pigs, goats), degradation of native vegetation, and invasive plants. Additionally, unsustainable land use and improper soil management in agriculture increase sediment runoff into streams and nearshore oceans. High rates of erosion occur in areas where precipitation is high, slopes are steep and vegetation cover is poor. Sediment pollutants occur as siltation, suspended solids, turbidity, nutrients, and pathogens. Suspended sediments reach coastal ocean waters and cause light limitation and damage to benthic organisms such as corals and native limu.
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Major agricultural contributors to water pollution in Hawai'i are nutrients, herbicides & pesticides, organic matter, sediments, pathogens, and drug residues. Rain, flooding, and groundwater flush agricultural pollutants towards the ocean. Nutrients from fertilizer negatively impact coral reefs. Organic matter from animal excreta, uneaten animal feed, animal-processing industries, and mismanaged crop residues can all be significant water pollutants. Livestock excreta contain many zoonotic microorganisms and multicellular parasites that can be harmful to human health. New agricultural pollutants such as antibiotics, growth promoters, and hormones also pose a threat. The discharge of organic matter increases the risk of eutrophication and algal blooms.
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Stormwater is a major mechanism by which pollutants reach streams and oceans. Stormwater pollutants enter a body of water due to water flowing over the surface of the land and carrying pollutants with it. These pollutants include agricultural and residential fertilizers, agricultural pollutants and animal wastes, oil, grease, heavy metals, and litter. Increased wildfires, forest loss, invasive plants, urbanization and stream hardening all increase the amount of sediment and pollutants that reach the ocean via stormwater.
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