Kauai’s Kalapaki Beach remains closed after sewage spill

After reviewing the results of two rounds of water quality tests, state Department of Health officials determined Sunday morning that Kalapaki Beach should remain closed at least through the end of Sunday, Kauai County officials say.

Signs notifying beachgoers of the closure will remain posted along Kalapaki Beach until health officials deem it safe for the public to return. The public is advised to stay out of the water until the signs are removed.

Kalapaki Beach has been closed since Thursday morning after it was reported that between 400,000 and 500,000 gallons of treated effluent had spilled into the storm drain that leads into the bay.

The spill occurred at approximately 5 p.m. on Wednesday following a partial power outage at the Lihu’e Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The cause of the outage was due to an internal circuit that powers the newly installed tertiary plant processes required to produce R-1 quality irrigation water.

Officials have taken the necessary steps to prevent a reoccurrence of Wednesday’s spill and have limited the production of R-1 quality irrigation water used at the Kaua’i Lagoons golf courses until a new alarm system that monitors power interruptions has been installed and tested.