We all know how valuable water is in our everyday lives, and going a day without water is tough. However, processing and treating all of the water we use is just as important to our quality of life and our island environment.

Just imagine if you had to individually dispose of your own wastewater for a day! Studies reflect individuals use 80-100 gallons of water per day. What would you do? No flushable toilets, no drainable sinks or showers — where would you dispose of all of that used water?

In 1856, the first toilet in Hawaii was flushed in Iolani Palace. Forty-four years later, the Kakaako Pumping Station was built. Its skeleton is still widely visible today in downtown just off Nimitz Highway. It was a means of taking our wastewater and discharging it, untreated, into the ocean.

The city has come a long way in the treatment of wastewater. Over the last 20 years, we have been able to support community growth without increasing treatment capacity through water conservation measures and improvements to the collection system. As our island continues to grow in population and locations of population change, we will continue to need everyone’s support in conserving water and reducing introduction of other than wastewater into the collection system, to allow the provision of service to all while minimizing the need for additional infrastructure.

Nevertheless, more can be done to use the valuable water and solids in wastewater. Emerging technology is now taking treated wastewater to another level. Reusing the approximately 99.99 percent of wastewater that is water or the 0.01 percent that is solids is tough to deal with because of the “ick factor.”

Of the more than 100 million gallons of wastewater treated on Oahu each day, only about 10 percent of the water is processed and reused for limited types of irrigation. More can be processed and reused, and valuable potable water saved when the reclaimed water can be used for more purposes.

Of the solids from our wastewater, through a public-private partnership with Synagro, about 94 percent of the reusable “exceptional quality class-A” biosolids (pellets) from the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant is beneficially reused on landscaping, golf courses and nurseries. The pellets go through a rigorous process and have never failed a state Department of Health (DOH) test.

Recent storms and flooding crippled many farms on Oahu. What can be done is replenish the soils on these farms with these organic pellets. Nationally, of the 50 percent of all biosolids recycled to land, less than 1 percent is used on agricultural land.

Although there are rules for different classes of biosolids, all pellets produced by Synagro are class-A, containing no detectible levels of pathogens, meet strict vector attraction reduction requirements, and have low levels of metals contents. According to DOH, these pellets are safe to be land-applied to crops.

The real issue is the public’s attitude. People think it’s icky even though other types of manure are used: horse, cow and chicken.

On the surface, most people just want to be assured of no adverse side effects from using biosolids on farm crops or reclaimed water for more purposes. The two ways to do that are through studies and education.

Lori Kahikina is director of the city Environmental Services Department.