Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

KM:
JH:
KM:
JH:
KM:
JH:
KM:
Yes, to fill the tanks down
Go down, fill up the tanks for Pöhakuloa. And from there, then the Army used it and took
down to their place.
Yes.
But you know, I’ll tell you the thing, that pipeline, iron pipe.
Yes.
The water, it runs… That pipe, it breaks sometimes, and they have to let ‘em open during
the winter. It gets cold, so the water runs through it, otherwise the pipe freezes.
Frozen, up mauka too
Water Catchment at Hopukani (Houpo o Käne) Springs. Photo No. KPA-N1649
JH:
KM:
JH:
KM:
JH:
KM:
JH:
KM:
JH:
The pipe used to break up mauka, and we used to have to clean, fix the line. That
pipeline in there ten years, you look in that pipe that pipe is new as it was the day you put
it in. Not even one sign rust on ‘um.
Amazing!
You look at the ranch line, rust inside. But that line till this day, you can go, and still break
‘um to this day, the water is clean. That’s why the water is so clean.
Pure water.
You get water from Pöhakuloa and put it in a container, you can bring it down here, and
you have some distilled water. You look, you can’t tell which one is which, Mauna Kea
water is cleaner.
Yes.
And don’t have no impurities. You can use it for battery water. We did that one time for
the radio station in Hilo. They said, “That’s perfectly good for distilled water.”
Yes.
There’s no impurity, it’s perfect.
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:449