It’s still amazing to think that there are about 90,000 cesspools throughout Hawaii, and that we are the only state that allows new cesspools, as Civil Beat’s Sophie Cocke has reported.

Cesspools — holes in the ground that discharge raw, untreated waste.

Fortunately, lawmakers in the Hawaii Legislature are advancing House Bill 1140, which would establish a $10,000 tax credit for homeowners to connect to a sewer system or install a septic system or aerobic treatment unit.

Signs warn the public to keep out of the water at Kahaluu lagoon.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

“Priority would go to homes near public drinking water wells and within 200 feet of shorelines, streams and wetlands,” the Hawaii Tribune-Herald explains. “The credit would be good until 2020.”

A related measure, House Bill 1141, appears to have stalled in the Senate. It would ban new cesspools as well as new structures tied to existing cesspools beginning in 2017.

Both measures were introduced by Rep. Nicole Lowen, who represents Kailua-Kona, Holualoa, Kalaoa and Honokohau. The Big Island is home to many a cesspool.