Drawing from over 50 years of experience with civil and public works repairs, Vares Contracting has completed numerous emergency water main break repairs, and installed or extended sewer lines,  sewage systems, and grease traps. Other waste water and water line services include: Property Line Sewer Man Holes,
Residential, Commercial, and Industrial septic systems and sewage treatment system installation, and repair available. Installation, repair, and retrofitting of grease traps for business and commercial uses. ​

Property Line Sewer Man Hole Installation

Recently, we've gotten a lot of phone calls from clients who are asking about the installation of a Property Line Sewer Man Hole, after being required to do so by the County of Maui Planning Department.  Our clients want to know what they are, why these are required and how they're installed.  The Property line Sewer Man Hole is an access point man hole that is installed within 2 feet from the boundary line of a property, where the property's sewer line branches off of the main line and laterals into the Commercial property's sewer line. Property Line Sewer Man Holes are required in Commercial properties (condos, hotels, churches, etc.) who have submitted for a County building permit for an unrelated construction project.  (The County can not randomly retroactively require Commercial property owners to install these SMH's, but they can require the installation of SMH as a condition of approving a Building Permit.) The purpose of a Property Line Sewer Man Hole is to provide in inspection access point in the event of a sewer back-up or issue in the immediate vicinity of your Commercial property, saving both the County and the property owner time, money, and headache.  
Installation of the SMH requires Civil Engineer Architect plans showing exactly where the SMH will be placed. Once we get the drawings from the Civil Engineer, we establish the exact angle and orientation of the sewer lateral and order fabrication the concrete sewer man hole (base, risers,cap, and lid). After the concrete casting is fabricated, we carefully excavate the location, find and expose the sewer lateral, cut and cap the temporarily terminated sewer line, and then grade and level the new base layer of structural fill.  The concrete man hole is then installed into the hole, with new lateral connections leading from the sewer main line to the property sewer line, using the trench in the base of the SMH as the new inspection point. After the cap and lid are installed on top and the surrounding ground is leveled and repaired, a concrete "donut" creates a gradual transition from ground level, and the lid is fancied up with a new coat of metal paint.  

Call your favorite Civil Engineer for plans.
 County plans and permit approval: expect 2 - 3 weeks
Precast Concrete fabrication lead time: 3 - 5 weeks 
Installation time: expect 2 - 3 days

Septic Systems & Absorption Fields

Roots School in Haiku had a big septic problem, but only a little space and a tight schedule. No problem for Vares Contracting! With a fleet of specialty equipment and a crew with decades of experience, one call to Vares Contracting got their school back on track in no time.  Installation of this new Absorption field in a tight space within a tight schedule was further assisted by some gorgeous Haiku weather.  

Injection Well Installation, Sarento's parking lot, Kihei 

​Keawekapu Beach Shower Dry Well, Maui Oceanfront Day's Inn, Kihei

Cesspool Removal and Upgrade to Septic System

​ DID YOU KNOW: The State of Hawaii is actively encouraging property-owners to upgrade their waste water systems to septic tanks and other solutions. The State is offering a $10,000 tax credit for cesspool upgrades to septic tanks, but the tax credit expires in 2020! If you have an aging/deteriorating cesspool, contact Vares Contracting for options to upgrade to septic today!

Read more about the long-term effects and challenges regarding deteriorating Cesspools in the Feb.2018 Wall Street Journal article below.

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CESSPOOL UPGRADE TAX INCENTIVE EXPIRING SOON!
Hawaii has the most cesspools in the nation, flushing wastewater into our streams, waterways and coastal ecosystems. Let's close the lid on contamination! It's time for an upgrade! But HURRY! 
State of Hawaii Act 120 grants a TAX INCENTIVE of up to $10,000 to qualified home owners who upgrade their old cesspool to a new septic system...but the 5-year program ends this year, in 2020! Want to learn more about Act 120? Visit https://health.hawaii.gov/wastewater/home/taxcredit/
to find out if your cesspool qualifies!  
Want to talk to an expert about getting it done? Give the crew at Vares Contracting a call!

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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, Feb 11, 2018

"Hawaii’s Cesspools Threaten Drinking Water, Tourism"
Sewage from holes of human waste have state lawmakers scrambling to find a fix
ByIan Lovett
Updated Feb. 11, 2018 3:39 p.m. ET
HONOLULU—Paradise has a sewage problem.Cesspools—holes in the ground where untreated human waste is deposited—have become a crisis in Hawaii, threatening the state’s drinking water, its coral reefs and the famous beaches that are the lifeblood of its tourist economy.
Sewage from cesspools is seeping into some of Hawaii’s ocean waters, where it has been blamed for infections suffered by surfers and snorkelers. It is also entering the drinking water in part of the state, pushing nitrate levels close to the legal limit.
Hawaii has 88,000 cesspools across its eight major islands, more than any other state. Collectively, they deposit 53 million gallons of raw sewage into the ground every day, according to the state health department. More than 90% of the state’s drinking water comes from groundwater wells.
State lawmakers, who outlawed new cesspools in 2016, are scrambling to find a solution to the thousands that exist.
Replacing all of the state’s cesspools with alternate sewage systems would cost at least $1.75 billion, according to the health department.
The problem is concentrated in suburbs and rural areas outside Honolulu, where cesspools have long been the primary method for storing sewage from homes.
Most beaches remain safe for swimming, and public water remains safe to drink for now, state officials said. The tourism industry continues to grow each year, despite instances of contamination at beaches.
But the problem is growing worse, officials said, as the state’s population has continued to grow.
In Upcountry Maui, a rural area in the central part of the island where drinking-water wells are most threatened by cesspools, officials are monitoring water quality closely.
At one groundwater well, nitrate levels are already at 8.7 milligrams a liter; the legal limit is 10, and the Department of Health estimated that some parts of the aquifer are already over that limit. Environmentalists say they are worried about the potential effect of the water on infants, who can be killed by high levels on nitrates, which are chemicals found in fertilizer and sewage.
State Sen. J. Kalani English, who represents Upcountry Maui, said it can cost as much as $100,000 to replace each cesspool, a prohibitive figure for most property owners. There are about 8,000 cesspools in Upcountry Maui alone.
Replacing the cesspools is “a huge financial burden,” he said.
Hawaii’s cesspool problem is a remnant of its agricultural past, when many parts of the state were off the electrical grid. Mr. English said, growing up on Maui, he remembered digging holes for outhouses, and then after a few years filling them with lye and digging new ones.
Outside of Honolulu, the state remains largely rural, and the mountainous terrain makes laying sewer lines to connect to sewage treatment plants expensive and, in many areas, not feasible.
Many bathrooms in homes outside Honolulu still pump sewage into nearby holes in the ground.
Before they were outlawed, the state received about 500 requests to put in new cesspools each year. Last year, the state passed a law requiring all cesspools to be replaced by 2050.
Yet, some residents resist plans to replace cesspools, worried about expense. In January, Upcountry Maui residents overwhelmed a Department of Public Health meeting, complaining about potential costs.
“You may want a clean environment, but you can’t afford to pay for it,” said Keith Kawaoka, deputy director for environmental health at the state agency. “It’s a real dilemma.”
Lawmakers are still searching for solutions. They recently called on engineers to bring them new ideas, adding that simply converting to septic systems—in which solids and liquids of waste are separated and the solids are later pumped out—wouldn’t solve the contamination problems in some areas, because nitrates would still seep into the groundwater.
Health officials said the 740 cesspools around Kahaluu, on the east coast of Oahu, contributed to high bacteria counts in the bay.
“Skin infections consistent with sewage-contaminated surface waters have been documented in this area,” the department’s report said.
Officials said it is difficult to definitively prove that any specific infection resulted from sewage contamination.
In Puako, a popular snorkeling destination on the Big Island, residents fear that sewage from the area’s 150 cesspools has already harmed the coral reef, which is its signature tourist attraction.
Peter Hackstedde, president of Puako Community Association, said he now avoids the water if he has a cut; he has gotten infected before.
He said the community had already spent more than $2.5 million of its own money studying the problem.
“We found that sewage is leaking into the ocean, and we swim in it,” Mr. Hackstedde said.
They now hope to install a small-scale sewage-treatment plant, which would avoid having to dig and install pipes to the nearest town, about 50 miles away.
A treatment plant would cost about $15 million, Mr. Hackstedde said, and residents don’t want to put up that money on their own. He said his association is hoping for a public-private partnership.
“Everyone who lives down here is pretty much for cleaning up the ocean,” Mr. Hackstedde said. “We just need the money.”
Appeared in the February 12, 2018, print edition as 'Hawaii’s Big Headache: Cesspools.'

 DID YOU KNOW: The State of Hawaii is actively encouraging property-owners to upgrade their waste water systems to septic tanks and other solutions. The State is offering a $10,000 tax credit for cesspool upgrades to septic tanks, but the tax credit expires in 2020! If you have an aging/deteriorating cesspool, contact Vares Contracting for options to upgrade to septic today!