Septic System Installation & Repair in East Hawaii

Septic System Installation & Repair

New construction in East Hawaii goes in on a septic system, not a cesspool, and plenty of the systems already in the ground are reaching the age where parts fail. We install and repair septic systems across Hilo, Puna and the Hamakua coast. On the installation side we handle new homes and ohana units, the rebuilds that followed the 2018 eruption in lower Puna, and replacement systems for homes whose old cesspool or field has given out: the site evaluation, the Department of Health permit, the excavation in lava, the tank, the leach field or seepage bed on imported fill, and the inspection. On the repair side we fix what actually breaks: cracked lids and collapsed baffles, sewer lines crushed by rock settlement or invaded by roots, distribution boxes that send everything to one line, failed effluent pumps on lots that lift uphill, and leach fields that have gone wet. We find the real problem before we dig, because excavating lava to fix the wrong thing is an expensive mistake.

Installing on rock instead of soil

Most of Puna and much of the Hamakua slope has no usable soil, so a leach field here is an engineered bed of approved fill built on top of the lava, sized for the house and set back from the catchment tank and property lines. Breaking pahoehoe for a tank and trenches takes the right equipment, and a hidden lava tube can change the plan on day one. We evaluate the lot before quoting and build exactly what the permit approved.

The parts that fail, and how we find them

Baffles corrode and drop off, letting scum run straight to the field. Lids crack, which is a safety hazard as much as a leak. Lines settle and crack in loose cinder or fill. Distribution boxes tilt and overload one lateral. Pumps and floats wear out on systems that have to lift effluent to a bed uphill. Before we excavate we check the line, open the tank, test any pump and look at the field, so the repair addresses the cause rather than the easiest guess.

What’s included

• New septic systems for new builds, rebuilds and ohana units
• Permit, design coordination and Department of Health inspection handled
• Leach fields and seepage beds built on approved fill over lava
• Baffles, lids, risers and distribution boxes replaced
• Cracked, settled and root-filled sewer lines repaired
• Effluent pumps, floats and alarms tested and replaced