NEWS RELEASES
For Immediate Release
September 7, 2026
Oʻahu Residents Asked to Conserve Water During Power Outage
HONOLULU – The Board of Water Supply (BWS) is asking all Oʻahu residents to please use water sparingly and for priority needs only until further notice. This means using water for cooking, drinking and personal hygiene only.
Residents, especially those without power, should keep water use to an absolute minimum and should not fill containers with water. All of the BWS’s pumps need electricity to operate. This means that the BWS will have limited ability to pump water out of its wells and up to reservoirs during a power outage. Until power can be restored, the water left in the reservoirs will be all the water that is available, so it is essential that residents use water sparingly.
Customers without water can call the BWS at (808) 748-5000, ext 1, and a roving water wagon will be sent to the affected area.
After power is restored, the BWS asks that residents continue to conserve water, as time is required to allow the electrically powered pumps to replenish reservoirs to normal levels.
The BWS will update the community through news reports as more information is gathered. Residents should stay tuned to news reports and consider signing up to receive email, text message or push notification alerts from BWS and other emergency response agencies through HNL Alert. Sign up at HNLAlert.gov.
If you need to report a water main break or other water emergency, please call (808) 748-5009.
About the Board of Water Supply
The Board of Water Supply (BWS), a semi-autonomous agency of the City and County of Honolulu, manages Oʻahu’s municipal water resources and distribution system. As the largest water utility in the State, the BWS serves approximately one million customers on Oʻahu. The BWS embraces its mission of “Water for Life – Ka Wai Ola” – to provide a safe, dependable, and affordable water supply, now and into the future. Uwē ka lani, ola ka honua – “When the heavens weep, the earth lives.” For more information, visit www.boardofwatersupply.com, follow @BWSHonolulu or like the BWS’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BWSHonolulu.
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Contact:
Kathleen Elliott-Pahinui
Public Information Officer
Honolulu Board of Water Supply
Phone: (808) 748-5319