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Hawai‘i Sea Grant Cesspool Resources 

Welcome to the University of Hawai’i Sea Grant College Program Cesspools Homepage! Hawai’i has over 83,000 cesspools that excrete approximately 52 million gallons of untreated wastewater every day. This portal features a number of products focused on the environmental and human health impacts of cesspools and the need for their statewide conversion to more advanced forms of wastewater treatment.

VIDEOS

Rethinking Wastewater Event & Panel

Rethinking Wastewater Event & Panel Discussion (2023)

Flyer depicting images of worn down coastlines for 'A Cesspool Story: How OSDS Has Influenced the 'Ewa Plains'

‘A Cesspool Story: How OSDS Has Influenced the ‘Ewa Plain’
presented by Matt Duff and John Cameron, Hanauma Talks (2021) 

'Turn That Brown Upside Down: Our Cesspools as an Opportunity' presented by Joachim Schneider

‘Turn That Brown Upside Down: Our Cesspools as an Opportunity’ presented by Joachim Schneider (2020)

Sea-level rise, tidal flooding, and cesspools Science Seminar

‘Sea-Level Rise, Tidal Flooding, and Cesspools’ Science Seminar (2021)

Voice of the Sea

‘Cesspool Contamination Revealed by Invasive Algae’, Season 7, Episode 5

‘Cesspool Issues Rising’, Season 7, Episode 6 

‘Cesspool Solutions’, Season 7, Episode 10

Flyer for Hawaii Sea Grant Podcast #5, depicting a closed beach with a warning sign

‘The Two to Three Day Rule’ featuring Dr. Craig Nelson and Krissy Remple (2019)

ARTICLES

cover of Ka Pili Kai Hooilo 2022 that includes a poop emoji and the title of the magazine

 ‘Rethinking Wastewater’ Issue (2022)

CESSPOOLS IN PARADISE ARTICLE

‘Cesspools in Paradise’ Article (2019)

REPORTS

2022 Hawai‘i Cesspool Hazard Assessment & Prioritization Tool Report Cover

‘Hawai‘i Cesspool Hazard Assessment & Prioritization Tool: Updated Report & Technical Appendices’ (2022)

REPORT COVER-Identifying Potential Knowledge Gaps For Hawaiʻi’s Cesspool Conversion Plan 1

‘Identifying Potential Knowledge Gaps For Hawaiʻi’s Cesspool Conversion Plan’ (2020)

A MULTI-STATE REGULATION AND POLICY SURVEY OF ONSITE WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM UPGRADE PROGRAMS

‘A Multi-State Regulation and Policy Survey Of Onsite Wastewater Treatment System Upgrade Programs’ (2019)

RESEARCH

dyed-coastal-waters

‘Tracing the pollution problem, but can we trace a solution?’ (2022)

‘Bacteroides: The clingy bacteria that mammals just can’t shake’ (2022)

Incineration toilet

‘When the Unmentionable becomes Unavoidable’ (2022)

‘Picking Apart “Dirty” Groundwater Sources’ (2022)

‘My Lifelong Question’ (2022)

Side by side images of a liquid being emptied into an underground tank, and a cesspool

‘Identifying hot spots of sewage pollution in Hilo, Hawaiʻi’ (200-2022)

A sign warning against swimming and fishing due to sewage contaminated water on a closed beach

‘Source tracking coastal groundwater and runoff contamination with microbial genomics and dissolved organic fluorometry’ (2016-2018)

Pie chart stating sources of water pollution

‘A model situation? Assessing nutrients in coastal groundwaters’ (2021)

Two people sample coastal waters by the rocky shoreline

‘Differentiating treated and untreated wastewater contamination in a tropical coastal community using microbial community genomics’ (2020-2022)

TOOLS

Screenshot-Hawai‘i Cesspool Prioritization Tool

Hawai‘i Cesspool Prioritization Tool (HCPT) and Input App

ACADEMIC LITERATURE

Hawai‘i’s Cesspool Problem: Review and Recommendations for Water Resources and Human Health (2021)

Data Repository: 2022 Hawai’i Cesspool Hazard Assessment & Prioritization Tool (2022)