Frequently Asked Questions

The most common reason for discolored water is iron. Many of Oahu’s water mains are made of iron, and disturbances from construction or water main breaks may cause the water to become temporarily discolored from its presence.

As a nuisance contaminant, iron levels are recommended to be beneath a secondary maximum contaminant level (SMCL) by the EPA. EPA does not enforce SMCLs. They are established as guidelines to assist public water systems in managing their drinking water for aesthetic considerations, such as taste, color, and odor. These contaminants are not considered to present a risk to human health at the SMCL.

If a customer notices any discoloration in their water, flushing out property lines usually addresses this concern. Simply run a large faucet (like a bathtub) or hose bib for a few minutes to get rid of the color. If the issue persists, customers may call the BWS 24-hour water trouble line at (808) 748-5000, ext. 1 for further instruction or assistance.

The BWS conducts tests at the tap only when specific water complaints—such as taste, discoloration, odor, or presence of particulate matter—are received from our customers.

If customers are curious about what is in their water, they should contact a private laboratory to have a sample analyzed. These laboratories are listed in the telephone directories under Laboratories-Analytical or can be found through a keyword search on any online search engine.

See PFAS FAQs below.

See PFAS FAQs below.

See Red Hill FAQs below.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) categorizes hardness into the following ranges:

Water sources across Oahu may have hardness values between 25 and 300 parts per million (ppm). The hardness level at an address may vary depending on factors such as which pumps are in service. For questions about hardness, the Water Quality Department may be reached at (808) 748-5840.

There is no way of really knowing where the PFAS came from. PFAS have been around since the 1940s with ramped up use in many products since the 1960s. PFAS was used to make nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain resistant fabrics and carpets, some cosmetics, and firefighting foam. What we can do is to continue monitoring to ensure that the levels either stay static or disappear. We are currently testing for PFAS at levels that are extremely low. This helps us do a better job of monitoring  when we do get a hit in one of our wells.

The use of home filtration device is an individual choice.  As a government agency, we are precluded from endorsements for products. If you choose to use a home filtration device, we recommend you thoroughly know what your device can and cannot remove from the water to maintain the system in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

The BWS will continue to monitor and provide data as it comes available. We take our kuleana seriously to provide safe drinking water to our community. We are working on a new section for our website with PFAS information on it including information on the detections at BWS sources. We will send out a news release when ready. We hope this information will be of use to the community as this is an important and serious issue.

The BWS can't speak to the Armory issues but understand they will be testing wells and some lo'i. We have asked that they test the streams in the area as well. 

The BWS has been testing all of our wells across the island since 2020 and have had 4 hits – none in the Pearl City area. We had very low level hits at the following wells: Halawa (2020 and 2023), Aina Koa (2021), Waipahu (2022), Makakilo (2023), Moanalua (2023), and Waipio (2023). With the discovery at the Armory, we will be testing weekly and have just taken new samples which are at the lab on the mainland.

The BWS has its own resources but not close to the Armory area.

BWS conducted PFAS testing on all BWS sources once annually from 2020 to 2022. Starting in 2023, BWS is testing all sources twice annually in accordance with UCMR5. Halawa Wells and Moanalua Wells are being tested weekly as part of the BWS Red Hill crisis monitoring and Waipio Heights Wells is being tested weekly in response to the Hawaii Army National Guard Waiawa facility (HIARNG) PFAS site investigation. Other BWS wells close to the HIARNG facility that are also being tested weekly are Pearl City Shaft, Pearl City Wells I, Pearl City Wells II and Manana Well. Waipio Heights Wells I is the sixth well station in the area but is presently down for repair and not operational.

If you choose to test your water yourself, it is important to use a state-certified laboratory using EPA-developed testing methods. The Hawaii Department of Health maintains a list of certified labs. You may also consider installing in-home water treatment (e.g., filters) that are certified to lower the levels of PFAS in your water.

The EPA offers guidance about minimizing your risks at the following website: https://www.epa.gov/pfas/meaningful-and-achievable-steps-you-can-take-reduce-your-risk

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the federal law that governs the quality of drinking water in the United States. Under the SDWA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets standards for drinking water quality and oversees state compliance with those standards.

In Hawaii, the State Department of Health (DOH) is responsible for ensuring that all public and private drinking water suppliers comply with state and federal drinking water standards. The ultimate responsibility rests with each water supplier to comply with the standards. The DOH and EPA are responsible for monitoring and enforcing these regulations.

Yes. Every year, the BWS conducts thousands of tests on the water source and distribution system to ensure that the water you receive is safe to drink. These tests check for 91 different types of contaminants, as required by the EPA. All final test results show the BWS is in full compliance with State and Federal standards for safe drinking water. If the water quality tests conducted did not meet State and/or Federal safe drinking water standards, the BWS would be required by law to immediately notify impacted customers and more importantly, the BWS would stop serving that water until it meets all State and Federal drinking water regulations.

Yes, the BWS treats water in accordance with all State and Federal drinking water regulations. Currently, the BWS treats drinking water with chlorine, and in certain areas of Oahu the water is also treated with granular activated carbon (GAC).

Yes, all of the water pumped into the BWS water distribution system is chlorinated.  Concentrations ranging from 0.25 to 0.5 milligrams per liter (ppm) of chlorine can be found throughout the water system.  Since excessive amounts of chlorine can affect the taste and odor of drinking water, the BWS adds only what is needed to keep disease-causing bacteria from contaminating our water supply.

If you experience a strong chlorine smell or taste in your water, contact the BWS Microbiological Laboratory at (808) 748-5850.

The BWS does not add fluoride to the municipal water supply. However, military installations add both fluoride and chlorine to their water supplies regardless of water quality.

In accordance with federal and state regulations, the BWS tests for lead in water samples taken from consumers' household taps. Based on these tests, our water supply meets the standard for lead in drinking water.

Water quality test results are shared with our customers in our annual water quality report or Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), as required by the EPA. The CCR, along with an accompanying water quality informational pamphlet, will be mailed to you by July 1 each year. The CCR identifies where your water comes from, what regulated contaminants were found, how those levels compare to the standards for safe drinking water, and describes any treatment processes used. To get your water quality report or the water quality informational pamphlet, please visit http://www.boardofwatersupply.com/water-quality/water-quality-report.

We can mail you a copy or you may get a copy of the Water Quality Report for your service address from the Water Quality section of the BWS website.

pH refers to the acidity or alkalinity of water and is expressed in terms of a numerical scale from 0 to 14. Seven (7) on this scale means that the water is neither acidic nor alkaline. For values less than 7, the smaller the number, the more acidic it is. For values greater than 7, the larger the number, the more alkaline it is.

The pH balance of the drinking water served by the BWS occurs naturally in the 7 to 8 range. This means that the water ranges from being neither acidic nor alkaline (pH 7) to being only slightly alkaline (pH 8).

The municipal water supply served to Oahu's residents is safe to drink and use, and does not require treatment by a home filtration unit.

The BWS does not offer any information or consumer guides on filtration systems. Customers should conduct their own research about water filter products when making a decision on whether to purchase such a system or device.

In incidents of water quality complaints, the BWS will not test water that has been altered by the installation of a filtration system. The customer may need to contact a private laboratory to have a sample analyzed, or check with the product representative or manufacturer for assistance.

Large buildings planning to reopen for business should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for flushing water lines at facilities where there has been low to no water use.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/building-water-system.html

Additional Resources:

• American Water Works Association: 
  https://www.awwa.org/Resources-Tools/Resource-Topics/Coronavirus#10681543-shutoffs-and-return-to-service-guidance
• Environmental Science, Policy & Research Institute:
  Flushing Guidance for Periods of Low or No Use (PDF) 
• Hawaii Department of Health Safe Drinking Water Branch:
  Call: (808) 586-4258

The Red Hill Bulk Fuel Facility continuously stores 187 million gallons of fuel in 70+ year-old tanks that are located just 100 feet above a State designated drinking water aquifer. The BWS uses water from this aquifer to serve residents from Moanalua to Hawaii Kai. Navy studies show the groundwater underneath and within close proximity to the tanks is already contaminated with petroleum chemicals. These studies also document leaks dating back to 1947, continuing corrosion of the tank liners, and the risk of a large catastrophic fuel release. If such a release occurred, it could pollute the aquifer and our water supply for many years.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

The situation at Red Hill poses a threat to existing BWS wells that are presently not contaminated. If these wells ever became contaminated, for instance by a catastrophic, large volume release from Red Hill, then water rates would need to increase to pay for treatment to remove the contaminants from the water. If the situation involved a very large release, the cost to treat could become prohibitively expensive as to render the wells and aquifer unusable for decades to come. In the event this occurred, existing BWS wells unaffected by the incident do not have the capacity to make up the difference, resulting in long-term water moratoriums. Water rates would need to increase to pay for alternatives to take the place of the water loss. Since water rates apply to all BWS customers island wide, everyone would end up paying for what happens at Red Hill.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

Fuel from the tanks that leak into the groundwater can eventually spread to neighboring wells because the groundwater is always moving. The amount of fuel contamination in the aquifer and how quickly it spreads depends on the volume of fuel released into the groundwater. A large volume of fuel released into the groundwater due to a major pipe or tank failure will contaminate the groundwater much faster, in greater amounts and over a larger area than fuel that is slowly leaking from the tanks.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

Not at this time. However, Navy studies show contamination is present in the groundwater underneath the tanks. This contamination can move in the groundwater and spread to neighboring wells in the area.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

Petroleum hydrocarbons and various related chemicals such as, total petroleum hydrocarbons as diesel (also called TPH-d), naphthalene, 1- methylnaphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, toluene, benzene and lead.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

A catastrophic fuel release could occur as the result of structural failure of the tanks caused by an earthquake. This could result in more than a million gallons of fuel released into the groundwater and potentially several million gallons to Halawa Stream and Pearl Harbor.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

The BWS would immediately shut down our Halawa Shaft and Moanalua Wells. The BWS would then impose a water moratorium in Honolulu. The Navy's Red Hill Shaft would also be shut down, creating a water shortage for Pearl Harbor. A large fuel leak would render the groundwater aquifer unfit for drinking for decades as treatment alternatives in such a scenario would be ineffective and costly.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

To protect the aquifer's long-term ability to provide safe drinking water, the BWS urges the Navy, EPA, and Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) to:

• double line the Red Hill tanks. If not, then relocate the tanks away from the potable water aquifer;
• meet the same EPA and DOH regulatory requirements imposed on all other Underground Storage Tanks; and,
• • clean up the fuel that is already underneath the tanks to reduce the long-term threat to other wells in the area.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

Many leaks have occurred in the past, and the most recent in January 2014. Tank tightness tests currently performed annually by the Navy cannot rule out the presence of any slow chronic leaks that may be occurring below the test’s ability to measure. Slow leaks can release up to 4,400 gallons of fuel per year per tank. Groundwater testing conducted by the Navy since 2005 continue to show petroleum contaminants present in the groundwater underneath Red Hill at levels that, in one case, has exceeded Hawaii DOH environmental action limits. This contamination could have been caused by the 2014 reported leak, earlier leaks, or more recent unreported leaks. Navy studies also show rusting is occurring on the backside of the tanks that can lead to through wall corrosion producing a tank leak. If the Navy continues its standard practices, the rusting will continue and likely lead to more frequent and larger leaks in the future.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

No. The Hawaii DOH has jurisdiction and regulates underground fuel tanks in Hawaii.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

In 2016 BWS contracted toxicology experts to determine the health significance of low-level petroleum chemicals in drinking water and their health effects. The study determined that levels below 100 parts per billion (ppb) [same as micrograms per liter] of total petroleum hydrocarbons as diesel (TPH-d) in water is safe and protective of public health. Consuming water containing TPH-d levels at or below 100 ppb is not expected to produce toxic effects. Research studies show the health effects of high levels of TPH-d can cause changes in red blood cell counts and noncancerous liver and kidney changes. Based on these results, BWS strongly urges clean-up of the groundwater underneath and surrounding the Red Hill tanks and to use 100 ppb as the minimum clean-up level. This 100 ppb level is also a taste and odor threshold and environmental action level (EAL) established by DOH.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

Yes. There are federal and state regulations that apply to all underground storage tanks. However, Red Hill is a field-constructed underground tank system that had been deferred from many of the requirements that must be met by smaller facilities. In 2015, the EPA revised the underground storage tank regulations. Unfortunately, the revised rules still exempt field constructed tanks like Red Hill from the regulatory requirements that must be met by all other underground storage tanks.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

Help the BWS to keep our drinking water safe by staying informed and doing your part to keep this issue top of mind.

• READ THE AOC & SOW for the Red Hill project: www.epa.gov/red-hill/red-hill-administrative-order-consent. 
• STAY CURRENT on news and updates about Red Hill on the BWS, EPA and DOH websites.
• ATTEND PUBLIC MEETINGS about issues related to Red Hill. 
• VOICE YOUR CONCERNS about protecting our groundwater resources.
• SHARE UPDATES about Red Hill and initiatives to protect Oahu's drinking water family and friends.
• CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS and let them know you are concerned about Red Hill and that you support efforts to protect Oahu’s groundwater resources.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

Contact information for the project coordinators for the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Navy can be found here.

See News & Updates on Red Hill >

As long as you’re connected to the Board of Water Supply’s (BWS) water distribution system, then your water is safe to drink. In the normal course of operations, the Navy’s drinking water system and the BWS’s are not connected. There are 3-4 interconnections that allow the BWS to supply water at the request of the Navy during a water service emergency on the Navy’s side. These connections are generally open for few days at most and the BWS has certain equipment in place, commonly referred to as a “backflow preventer,” to ensure that providing emergency water to the Navy can be done safely and does not compromise the water in the BWS’s distribution system.

Manana Housing. Currently, we are using one of these emergency connections to send safe drinking water to Navy customers at Manana Housing and have been pumping water to this area at the request of the Navy since November 16, 2021. The Navy needs the BWS’s assistance while they repair a booster pump.

The BWS water going into the Navy system is safe to drink and we have not received any complaints about fuel odors or taste from customers receiving water from the aquifer in this area. The BWS is only providing the emergency water to the Navy at the interconnection. Once the water enters the Navy system, it is under the Navy’s control and we cannot speculate as to where precisely it flows or what happens to it once it leaves the BWS’s distribution system.

There are a couple of ways to find out if your address is serviced by the BWS. This includes:

1. You receive a monthly bill from the BWS.
2. If you live in an apartment/condo/townhome, check with your association.
3. You can look up your water quality report by entering your address at https://www.boardofwatersupply.com/water-quality/water-quality-report/search-ccr. If a report populates, then your address is serviced by the BWS.

You can also contact the BWS at 808-748-5041 or email contactus@hbws.org.

• The Navy’s drinking water system and the BWS’s are not connected and are isolated from each other except for a few emergency connections (please see above).
• All municipal drinking water sources are regularly tested according to EPA-mandated protocols and meet or exceed all requirements for safe drinking water.
• Since 2014, in addition to EPA-mandated drinking water testing, the BWS has conducted extra testing of the water sources near the Red Hill fuel tanks. This additional testing is intended to detect any potential fuel contamination before it impacts the municipal water supply. And for the past eight years, the BWS has not detected any contamination from the Red Hill fuel tanks in nearby municipal drinking water sources.
• So not only are the systems not connected, but both regular EPA testing and precautionary BWS testing of the water sources near Red Hill confirm that municipal drinking water around the island is not contaminated and remains safe to drink.

Following the recent release of fuel from the Red Hill Facility, the BWS shut down three water sources (Aiea & Halawa Wells, and the Halawa Shaft) to protect against the potential that contamination might enter the BWS municipal water distribution system. These decisions were made from an abundance of caution after the Navy/DOH detected levels of fuel contamination in the military’s water system. The three sources will remain closed until further notice.

The water sources that provide water service to residents in Windward Oahu are supplied from sources located in Windward Oahu and not those in the vicinity of Red Hill.  

The BWS conducts regular testing on our water sources to ensure compliance with all federal and state drinking water standards. Since 2014, in addition to EPA-mandated drinking water testing, the BWS has conducted extra testing of the water sources near the Red Hill fuel tanks. This additional testing is intended to detect any potential fuel contamination before it impacts the municipal water supply. And for the past eight years, the BWS has not detected any contamination from the Red Hill fuel tanks in nearby municipal drinking water sources. 

BWS drinking water is not contaminated and remains safe to drink. However, if any of its sources were to be considered unsafe to drink in the future, the BWS would immediately inform the public and distribute information to all local media outlets (newspaper/radio/television). The BWS urges the public to proactively follow their local media outlets, check the BWS’s website, social media, HNL.info, and other communication channels to stay apprised of any updated information.

A special Red Hill landing page has been set up at www.boardofwatersupply.com. Click “Red Hill Update” to view news releases and other informational material related to this issue. 

A filtration system will remove the constituent that it is designed to remove. To learn more about what a filtration system can and cannot remove, we recommend that you contact the system manufacturer. As a government agency, the BWS does not recommend or endorse specific product or product names.

When the Navy informed the BWS that two Navy water sources – Red Hill Shaft and Aiea-Halawa Shaft – were contaminated, as a precaution, and to prevent contamination of its own sources, the BWS stopped pumping three of its own wells – Halawa Shaft, Aiea Well, and Halawa Well.

To ensure the continued integrity of these sources, we are testing weekly and will provide these results on our website as they come available.

We are confident that the water served by the BWS has NOT been contaminated and compromised by the Navy’s Red Hill situation. Here is why:

1. The Navy’s drinking water system and ours are NOT connected and are isolated from each other (with limited exceptions, please see above).
2. All municipal drinking water sources are regularly tested according to EPA-mandated protocols and meet or exceed all requirements for safe drinking water.
3. Since 2014, in addition to EPA-mandated drinking water testing, the BWS has conducted extra testing of the water sources near the Red Hill fuel tanks. This additional testing is intended to detect any potential fuel contamination before it impacts the municipal water supply. For the past eight years, the BWS has not detected any contamination from the Red Hill fuel tanks in nearby municipal drinking water sources.

Not only are the systems NOT connected, but both regular EPA testing and precautionary BWS testing of the water sources near Red Hill confirm that municipal drinking water around the island is not contaminated and remains safe to drink.  The BWS is committed to continued testing and will take every effort to protect the water supplied to its customers.

The BWS tests water from its own sources and distribution system.  Kapilina is on a private water system.  The BWS does not test that water system.  Please check with your water supplier about the safety of your water.

The BWS water system is considered “critical infrastructure,” and we are unable to disclose the locations of our wells. Currently, the BWS does not have a map that shows the areas that each of its wells predominantly services. We can share with you that together BWS wells contribute to the water supply in communities on Oahu from Aiea to Hawaii Kai.

Yes. In compliance with the EPA Third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3), the Board of Water Supply (BWS) tested Oahu's water supply for hexavalent chromium. All results are reported in the BWS consumer confidence report (CCR) as required by the UCMR3 regulation and are within the DOH’s action limit of 13 parts per billion (ppb). Since completing the UCMR3 testing requirements, BWS has elected to conduct annual testing of its water sources for hexavalent chromium. Action limits or health advisories is an estimate of acceptable drinking water levels for a chemical substance based on health effects information. It is not a legally enforceable standard. The EPA presently has no maximum contaminant level (MCL) in drinking water for hexavalent chromium citing the present total chromium MCL as protective of human health.

MCLs are established by regulatory agencies with environmental and public health risk assessment expertise such as EPA and the DOH and not BWS. These MCLs govern the quality of water supplies delivered by utilities like the BWS. The BWS is constantly in contact with federal and state regulatory agencies and national water associations to ensure we stay abreast of issues related to the safety and quality of our water supplies.

The BWS monitors its water supplies in compliance with the present EPA MCL of 100 ppb for total chromium. The results show our sources presently meet the current MCL for total chromium and are available on our Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), which we provide to all customers each year. Customers can access the CCRs for their areas online at http://www.boardofwatersupply.com/water-quality/water-quality-report.

The BWS does not perform individual testing for hexavalent chromium. If you would like to have your water tested for hexavalent chromium, please contact a private laboratory.

The BWS is not a public health agency and therefore not in a position to comment on California's MCL. We recommend visiting the California State Water Resources Control Board website for more information on California's hexavalent chromium MCL.

According to the EPA, chromium naturally occurs in rocks, animals, plants, soil, and in volcanic dust and gases. Water sources can be affected by hexavalent chromium naturally, or through contamination plumes from industrial centers, landfills, and improper discharge of industrial processing streams. For more information, visit the EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/.