Old plumbing rules hindering homebuilding on Maui

by Joe Kent, Grassroot Institute, Oct. 6, 2024, Hawaii Filipino Chronicle.

Maui County officials are considering proposals to allow or even encourage building more homes per lot, but the success of those efforts could wind up being watered down by outdated plumbing rules.

Back in March, I talked about the county’s onerous water-meter regulations with Maui entrepreneur Syd Smith, who owns Maliko Estate Coffee in Upcountry and is a member of the County Council’s Agriculture Working Group.

Speaking with me on the former “Hawaii Together” program on ThinkTech Hawaii, Smith told me about the “dreaded Upcountry water meter list” and joked that, “Everybody knows you’re probably going to die before you ever get to the top.”

Some of my colleagues at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii looked into her concerns about water-meter wait times and uncovered some interesting findings that have been outlined in Grassroot’s latest report, “How fixes to Maui’s water-fixture policy could ease its housing crisis.” 

Essentially, Grassroot researchers Jonathan Helton and Aaron Lief found that Maui County’s water-fixture concerns are two-fold: The county has not updated its water-fixture unit scores since 1995, and its fees and wait times associated with water meters and water-fixture units are among the highest in the state.

A water fixture is simply any appliance or building feature that uses water, such as sinks, toilets, showers, dishwashers, and washing machines. The county assigns each fixture a score, measured in water-fixture units, that is supposed to be based on how much water it is estimated to use. 

The county also sets the maximum water-fixture unit score allowed per water meter, which it charges to install.

As an example of how outdated Maui County’s water-fixture unit calculations are, its county code gives every outdoor water faucet, called a hose bib, a score of 3 fixture units.

The Uniform Plumbing Code of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, on the other hand, rates one hose bib at 2.5 fixture units, and each additional bib at 1 fixture unit. 

That means Maui County’s water-fixture unit score for two hose bibs would be 6, whereas the UPC recommends only 3.5.

In addition,  the UPC assigns dishwashers a lower score than toilets, but Maui County does the opposite.

As you can see, Maui County’s inflated water-fixture unit scores add up and can force homeowners down the costly and time-consuming path of purchasing more water-fixture units or even an additional water meter or a larger one before theirs truly is at maximum capacity per industry standards.

To help ease Maui County’s housing crisis, the Grassroot report recommends transferring ownership and management of water meters to homeowners and updating or eliminating the county’s water-fixture-unit requirements altogether. 

Regarding the latter suggestion, homeowners could work with licensed plumbers to determine a water meter’s capabilities, and would be motivated to ensure their water-fixture usage didn’t go over that limit. 

I was encouraged to learn recently that Maui Department of Water Supply staff is aware of the new Grassroot report and plans to offer recommendations to the Maui County Council in a couple months.

I am hoping they agree that even though Maui County’s water-fixture regulations are somewhat obscure, minor updates to those policies could make a major difference when it comes to spurring much-needed housing growth.