There are several ways homeowners in Hawaii can deal with raw sewage, and the one you use depends on where your home is located. The most common form of sewage disposal for people living in towns or cities is the municipal sewer system. This is a public works project that treats the sewage and cleans the water as required. However, those folks who reside in rural areas will use either a septic system or a cesspool. By law, any new system that is installed in Hawaii must be a septic system, but many older homes still use the cesspool and will require Cesspool Maintenance in Hawaii.
The cesspool is, basically, a pit in the ground, usually between ten to twenty feet deep. It could be a simple hole or it may be lined with concrete, cinder blocks, bricks or stone. The cesspool works similarly to the septic tank. That is, the solid waste is consumed by anaerobic action and the waste water is slowly leached into the soil. The primary difference between the two sewage treatment methods is that the septic system uses a series of field lines or drainage lines to spread the effluent over a larger area while the cesspool leaches the liquid into the soil that directly surrounds the pit. Unfortunately, this creates soil saturation and can quickly pollute the local water table.
The basic cesspool maintenance in Hawaii is having the pit pumped out. This eliminates the buildup of solid matter that isn’t readily consumed by bacteria. The cesspool should only need cleaning about once a year or less, and any pit that requires pumping two or more times each year is considered a failure. Another sign of problems is a high water level inside the cesspool. This indicates that the pit isn’t leaching the effluent properly. This could be caused by a buildup of gunk around the pit walls, but it could also indicate trouble with the surrounding soil.
Diagnosing this type of problem will require the help of an expert. If your home has a cesspool, it is a very good idea to keep it serviced regularly. When the pit finally fails, you will be required by law to replace it with a septic system, and this could get very expensive.
