Hawaiʻi Island
Cesspool waste goes into our water.
Hawaiʻi Island’s volcanic rock doesn’t filter it. It carries untreated wastewater toward the groundwater we drink and the ocean we swim in.
Property review. Funding guidance. Licensed local partners. One point of contact.
Cleaner Water
Protect groundwater, streams, reefs, and coastal waters.
Easier Process
One point of contact to help you navigate engineers, permits, contractors, and funding.
Built for Hawaiʻi
A conversion program designed around island conditions.
Watch · 90 seconds
Under the island.
What a cesspool does to the water under your home, why the state set a 2050 deadline, and how ʻĀina Force helps you get through it.
Watch · 7 minutes
Why your Big Island backyard could cost you $40,000.
The full story: what the law requires, why this island carries more than half the State’s cesspools, what it means for home values, and what help exists today.
The law
Every cesspool in Hawaiʻi must be converted by 2050.
- 2050
- State law (Act 125 (2017), HRS §342D-72) requires every cesspool to be upgraded, converted, or connected to sewer.
- 48,600
- Cesspools on Hawaiʻi Island — more than half of the 83,000 in the state.
- 29M
- Gallons of untreated wastewater released into the island’s ground every day.
For homeowners
Cesspool conversion should not be this complicated.
Today, a homeowner may have to coordinate engineers, permits, contractors, pumping, equipment, inspections, and financing separately.
ʻĀina Force helps bring it together — one point of contact coordinating information, introductions, documentation, and communication with the licensed professionals who do the work.
- 01Property Review
- 02Engineering
- 03Permitting
- 04Installation
- 05Inspection & Completion
ʻĀina Force helps homeowners navigate cesspool conversion by coordinating information, introductions, documentation, and communication. Engineering, permitting, installation, and inspections are performed under separate agreements by appropriately licensed independent professionals and contractors.
Start with the property
Every property is different.
System design, access, site conditions, number of bedrooms, existing infrastructure, and permitting requirements can all affect a conversion.
That is why we start with the property.
Funding
Financial assistance may be available.
Conversions on Hawaiʻi Island have typically cost tens of thousands of dollars. In 2026 the State created a Cesspool Conversion Revolving Loan Fund for low-interest and forgivable loans, now being set up — and other programs may apply to some homeowners.
ʻĀina Force is working with local government to best support homeowners, and to help them determine which financing and assistance options may apply to their property.
Funding, eligibility, approval, and installation are not guaranteed and depend on applicable program rules, property conditions, engineering, and agency approval.
Why it matters
Protecting what makes Hawaiʻi home.
Modern wastewater infrastructure helps protect groundwater, rivers, streams, reefs, coastal waters, families, and future generations.
ʻAʻohe ʻŌpala Ma Ka ʻĀina
Hawaiʻi Island homeowners
Have a cesspool? We want to hear from you.
We are accepting Hawaiʻi Island properties into our early pilot. Tell us about yours and we’ll help you understand what it may require and what assistance may be available.
No obligation, and nothing to buy.