Upcountry is one of 14 top priority areas in the state where cesspool upgrades are critically needed due to “significant risk” of drinking water and environmental contamination, a state Department of Health report to the state Legislature said.
“The report findings are troubling and show wastewater from cesspools is beginning to impact drinking water in some parts of Upcountry Maui,” said Dr. Virginia Pressler, the state health director.
There are five public drinking water wells in the area that are impacted by the cesspools, and there are three new drinking water wells in development, the report said.
This means that cesspools in these areas contribute to documented impacts to drinking water or human health and appear to impact sensitive streams or coastal waters.
Hawaii has more cesspools than any other state.
Prior to the ban, there were approximately 800 new cesspools per year.
The rules also provided a temporary income tax credit for the cost of upgrading or converting a qualified cesspool to a septic tank system or an aerobic treatment system or connecting to a sewer system.
A taxpayer may apply for a tax credit of up to $10,000 for cesspools upgraded to a sewer or septic system during the next five years.
The program is limited to a total of $5 million, or about 500 cesspool upgrades per year.
Under the law, owners of cesspools located within 500 feet of the ocean, streams or marsh areas or near drinking water sources can qualify for the tax credit.

TARKWA, Ghana, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) — "In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty", so says a song by legendary musician Bob Marley.
But for Regina Fabile, 29, a native of Bonsaso within the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Area in the Western Region, 301 km from the national capital, Accra, it is not easy to find fresh drinking water despite in the vicinity of a river.
She explained that the nature of the water had over the years deteriorated to the point that even washing with it had become a problem to many.
According to her, young people, including her own brothers who engage in a poorly regulated artisanal mining as well as poorly regulated mining by multinational firms, have led to heavy contamination of the previously fresh water source.
"From my childhood, this has been our source of water for everything we needed water for in the house, whether for cooking, drinking, washing, or bathing.
However, potable water is one of the down-sides in especially the rural communities outside the municipal capital, where irresponsible environmental practices by mining firms and illegal mining are killing fresh water bodies.
And beside the negative effect of the poorly regulated small-scale and large-scale mining along the river, Bonsaso refuse dumps, household toilets and bathrooms are also located along the banks of the river.
He appealed to the municipal authorities to come to their aid to repair the solar pump for them to alleviate the suffering women and children go through to access water.
The project seeks to mobilize local government authorities and the communities to develop their own roadmaps towards managing water resources sustainably.
The people of Mile 10.5 , Domeabra, Nyamebekyere and Israel have decided to mobilize resources through the tokens community members pay for the water to be used to maintain and/or repair the boreholes.

Two villages in Telangana will soon get access to safe drinking water with Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Project.
A contract was signed in Chennai on Tuesday to provide financial assistance to set up the two water purification plants.
The grant contract for the project was signed between Seiji Baba, Consul General of Japan, Chennai, and Pushyamitra Sharma, managing trustee, Safe Water Network India, a non-profit organisation.
Elaborating on the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects, Mr. Baba said the Japanese government provided financial assistance to development projects being implemented by voluntary organisations and educational/medical institutes.
In Tamil Nadu too, a school for children in need is being constructed at Tirunelveli by Hebron Educational and Charitable Trust with financial assistance from the Japanese government.
The Consulate General of Japan, Chennai, which covers Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Puducherry, has supported various such projects since 1990.
Nearly ₹31 lakh is being provided as agrant to set up two water purification plants at Podichenpalle and Shankarampet villages in Medak district, Telangana.
“We are focussing on creating clusters of treatment plants to ensure viability and supervision,” he said.
The initiative will benefit about 5,000 residents in each of these villages as the plant can treat 1,000 litres per hour.
The groundwater in these areas has high fluoride content and salinity, said Anil Sondhi, vice president-technical operations, Safe Water Network.

The downside is that this all important resource is also highly vulnerable to contamination from inadequate sewerage provision and solid waste collection, industrial pollution and poorly planned development.
Lusaka’s sprawling George and Kanyama townships illuminate the severity of the problem, where a lack of planning, inadequate water supply and sanitation services and poor solid waste management degrade groundwater resources, with a severe toll on the health and livelihoods of residents.
They rely on water provided by the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) and Kanyama Water Trust (KWT) through water kiosks and communal taps.
In some areas of Kanyama, there are up to five times more shallow wells than water kiosks, and 40 percent of the population uses shallow wells for drinking water, according to the Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP),-a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to improve access to water, sanitation, and associated health benefits through multi-sector, stakeholder engagement.
The Water Supply and Sanitation Act requires water supply and sanitation utilities to provide efficient and sustainable water supply and sanitation services.
However, Lusaka’s peri-urban areas lack a sustainable sanitation system.
In Kanyama, for example, 95 percent of residents rely on pit-latrines, which are the most significant source of ground water contamination.
Studies of ground water quality in Kanyama show widespread contamination of boreholes, public taps and shallow wells.
Due to inadequate and erratic supply, and problems of affordability, many residents use shallow wells as their main source of water.
Studies carried out in George, Kanyama and elsewhere in Lusaka show high levels of contamination of groundwater by pit-latrines; water quality samples from shallow wells in Kanyama show levels of microbial contamination which vastly exceed ZABS drinking water standards.

Press release Fuel running out in water pumping stations serving over 3 million people, half of them are children AMMAN/SANA’A, 19 December 2017 – Recent restrictions on imports of fuel to Yemen have sparked critical shortages and price hikes across the country, severely impacting access to safe water and other vital services for children including health care and sanitation.
The cuts are the latest challenge to containing Yemen’s acute watery diarrhea and cholera outbreak.
“This could not come at a worse time for the children of Yemen reeling from violence, malnutrition and an outbreak of diseases including acute watery diarrhea and cholera.” The cost of diesel fuel has doubled in just over one month, jeopardizing the provision of water particularly for the poorest families.
Prices of commercially trucked water – a main source for one fifth of Yemen’s population have skyrocketed.
On average, they have doubled while in some locations they increased six-fold.
“For over two thirds of Yemenis living in extreme poverty, safe water is now completely unaffordable,” added Cappelaere.
Over 385,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition and are fighting for their lives.
“Restrictions on humanitarian assistance and imports of lifesaving supplies must urgently be lifted to avoid Yemen spiraling even further into the abyss,” said Cappelaere.
“The children of Yemen have already suffered too much and for far too long.” ### About UNICEF UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children.
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Recent restrictions on imports of fuel to Yemen have sparked critical shortages and price hikes across the country, severely impacting access to safe water and other vital services for children including health care and sanitation.
The cuts are the latest challenge to containing Yemen’s acute watery diarrhea and cholera outbreak.
“This could not come at a worse time for the children of Yemen reeling from violence, malnutrition and an outbreak of diseases including acute watery diarrhea and cholera.” The cost of diesel fuel has doubled in just over one month, jeopardizing the provision of water, particularly for the poorest families.
Water pumping stations serving over 3 million people via public networks in 14 cities are quickly running out of fuel.
Prices of commercially trucked water – a main source for one fifth of Yemen’s population have skyrocketed.
On average, they have doubled while in some locations they increased six-fold.
“For over two thirds of Yemenis living in extreme poverty, safe water is now completely unaffordable,” added Cappelaere.
Over 385,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition and are fighting for their lives.
UNICEF is providing nearly 450,000 litres of fuel monthly to continue running water pumping stations in Sana’a, Hodeida and Hajjah, among other cities across the country.
“Restrictions on humanitarian assistance and imports of lifesaving supplies must urgently be lifted to avoid Yemen spiraling even further into the abyss,” said Cappelaere.

LAHORE – Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar expressed concerns over the alarming quantity of arsenic in drinking water in Punjab and directed the chief secretary that after Karachi, it was Punjab’s turn to take actions accordingly.
Hearing a suo motu notice on Tuesday regarding the provision of safe drinking water in the province, the CJP wondered What the Punjab government was doing for improvement in health and education sector.
Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed appeared before the court at its Lahore registry where the three-judge bench reprimanded and directed him to postpone his activities for a week so he could aid the bench while it was hearing cases at the Lahore registry.
KARACHI – Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday remarked that providing clean drinking water to the citizens was the primary responsibility of the government.
A three-member bench, headed by CJP Saqib, comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah … Continue reading The top judge also inquired about the quality of water provided to students in upscale neighbourhoods saying ‘private colleges are taking heavy fees’.
SC bench visits Mayo Hospital The CJP flanked by Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Umar Ata Bandial paid a surprise visit to Mayo Hospital Lahore where they were briefed by the medical superintendent regarding the facilities provided at the hospital.
Mian Saqib Nisar directed that water filtration plants be installed at the hospital so patients and visitors could have access to safe drinking water.
CJP inspects facilities at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital in a surprise visit #SC #GovernanceMatters #Judiciary #Executive pic.twitter.com/etyoz7moxV — Fahd Husain (@Fahdhusain) December 19, 2017 During the trip to the hospital, the chief justice warned the chief secretary that recklessness in the health and education sectors will not be tolerated.

C0x’s Bazar,Bangladesh: Ferdous Begum was cleaning her child after he had defecated in the open, using leaves she collected from a nearby tree at Bangladesh’s Teknaf Nature Park.
“We only have a couple of hand-dug shallow wells and we don’t get enough water from the wells for so many people living in the camp.” Other camps near Teknaf are also facing acute shortages of water, especially access to drinking and clean water, while aid workers face difficulties with hygiene management for the refugees crammed in squalid camps stretching from Teknaf to Ukhia in Cox’s Bazar.
The latest UN report shows an estimated 655,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh after fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, increasing the total Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar to 867,000 since August 25.
The report said new arrivals were living in spontaneous settlements with increasing demand for humanitarian assistance, including shelter, food, clean water and sanitation.
In one month, as of December 12, a total of 804 suspected diphtheria cases, including 15 deaths, were reported among the displaced Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar.
A number of aid workers working in the field said hygiene was very important to prevent disease outbreaks in these overcrowded camps.
Rohingyas in the Jadimora area said that they were trying to collect water from tube wells in local communities, but on many occasions they’d been barred.
“We can’t say we have reached all Rohingyas with safe drinking water and other facilities as they are living scattered,” Refugee Relief and Repatriation commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam of Cox’s Bazar told IPS.
“Access to clean water and safe sanitation services is a problem for the communities hosting refugees in Cox’s Bazar,” said Alessandro Petrone, WASH Programme Manager for IOM’s Rohingya Response, in a statement earlier this month.
New arrivals also have limited access to bathing facilities, especially women and urgently require WASH supplies including soap and buckets.

Waiheke Island is in crisis as the summer dryness continues, with the list of people needing water deliveries growing daily.
But the dry weather has seen tank reserves running low, with some people running out of water altogether.
* Water crisis means Waiheke Island needs to save every drop * Flood relief in the pipeline on Waiheke Island * Waiheke water companies work flat out as tanks run dry The island’s water companies – Waiheke Aqua, Wai Water and Island Water – draw supplies from aquifers but the amount they can take each day is capped.
Waiheke Local Board has launched a campaign to educate visitors about saving water by taking short showers, with a bucket in the shower tray to catch water that can be used in toilets instead of flushing.
Countdown supermarket in Ostend has been stocking up with bottles of water for people to drink but there are also new drinking fountains at parks on the island.
The answer is – plenty," board member John Meeuwsen said.
"We have repeatedly sought assurances that the supply from the aquifer is comfortably adequate to meet all contingencies – and been assured it is.
"We are reprinting the Waiheke Water Wisdom pamphlet for wide distribution, including to property managers.
"And we have met with the water supply companies to discuss giving them more flexibility on their daily quotas and other ways Auckland Council may be able to help."
"A stray firework could start a fire that would spread very quickly in this dry weather."

“Every day, parents are carrying their malnourished children to hospital because they haven’t eaten in days, and families are watching as loved ones die needlessly from treatable illnesses because they do not have access to medical care,” Ms Mordaunt said in a statement.
“UK aid will save lives with new food and fuel; fuel that will produce food, pump clean water to help stop the spread of cholera, and power hospital generators.” The International Development Secretary also called for an “immediate opening up of commercial and humanitarian access into Yemen” during meetings in Riyadh with exiled Yemeni officials and the Saudi-led coalition fighting on their behalf in the brutal civil war.
Saudi Arabia and its regional partners have mounted an extensive bombing campaign on Yemen’s Shia Houthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa, at the request of the exiled, internationally recognised Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
Aid agencies warn the true statistics are likely to be much higher.
The Saudi blockade on Yemen’s air and sea ports was tightened for three weeks as a retaliation to a rebel Houthi missile that was intercepted near the Saudi capital of Riyadh on 4 November.
As a result, the number of people living on the brink of famine rose to eight million.
As well as aid, without unfettered access to commercial goods such as fuel generators, which power hospitals and treat drinking water, the country is still on track for a large-scale famine.
Rebel areas have seen increased internal violence and Saudi air stirkes since the Houthis killed former president Ali Abdullah Saleh for switching sides in the war last week.
While the UK government has given more than £2m of aid to Yemen since the war began, it has also sold at least £4.6bn in arms to the Saudi coalition.
Officials within former US President Barack Obama’s administration worried the sales could amount to complicity in war crimes.