HPU Hooks It Up For Future

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Crews perform site work at the Hale Kou sewage pumping station last summer as HPU worked to link up with the city wastewater system. Photo from Rich Stepien.

When Hawaii Pacific University ceremoniously “flipped the switch” last month on its new sewage pumping system, it signaled the kickoff of a very ambitious expansion plan at the Windward campus.

“We live our lives without thinking much about sewage pipes,” admitted HPU president Chatt Wright, “but (this project) really unlocks the educational future of the university. We learned that to expand our campus, we would have to take the treated effluent somewhere else.”

So while the Hawaii Loa site already had its own wastewater treatment system, the college embarked on the required hookup to the city sewage system six years ago, opting for “directional drilling” for less disruption.

“It was a long, laborious process, and the approvals took most of the time. The building of it (pipes, pumps and underground tunneling) took less than six months - it was an event in itself; our campus didn’t even know it was going on.” Four-thousand feet of underground lines now funnel HPU effluent and sewage under

H-3 and Kamehameha Highway to the city’s Hale Kou pumping station mauka of Hawaiian Memorial Park.

It’s also very difficult to raise money for a sewer project, Wright pointed out. “No one wants to be named after a sewage treatment plant,” he explained, half-joking. Overall, the one-year, $800,000 linkup project ended up taking six years and costing $3 million. “I learned a lot about waste-water systems,” he said.

Now the real story begins, as college officials collaborate with Francis Oda of Group 70 on an exciting plan to erect in phases eight more dormitories, a student center, a gymnasium, new three-story academic center, theater and athletic facilities. With groundbreaking still three to five years out, Wright said much time will be devoted to involving the community, fleshing out conceptual renderings and obtaining permits.

“We want to make sure the community supports us,” he said, “and we want the community to like it. It’s not about ugly concrete buildings, and we have a sound, very green architect in Mr. Oda.”

Also recommended is a second highway entrance with a traffic light, relocating the flood-prone soccer field and erecting a covered walkway from the parking lot.

Hawaii Loa will eventually be HPU’s main campus, Wright said, but the downtown classrooms are a mainstay and will be retained.

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