Hawaii Administrative Rules
Title 11 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Subtitle 1 - GENERAL DEPARTMENTAL PROVISIONS
Chapter 54 - WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
Section 11-54-8 - Recreational criteria for all State waters
Current through February, 2024
(a) These criteria are designed to protect the public from exposure to harmful levels of pathogens while participating in water-contact activities. The specific criteria for enterococcus shall be expressed in colony forming units (CFU) per one hundred milliliters or as a most probable number (MPN) per one hundred milliliters, as specified by the analytical method used.
(b) Enterococcus content shall not exceed a geometric mean of 35 colony forming units per one hundred milliliters over any thirty day interval.
(c) A Statistical Threshold Value (STV) of 130 per one hundred milliliters shall be used for enterococcus. The STV shall not be exceeded by more than ten percent of samples taken within the same thirty day interval in which the geometric mean is calculated.
(d) State waters in which enterococcus content does not exceed the standard shall not be lowered in quality.
(e) Raw or inadequately treated sewage, sewage for which the degree of treatment is unknown, or other pollutants of public health significance, as determined by the director of health, shall not be present in natural public swimming, bathing or wading areas. Warning signs shall be posted at locations where human sewage has been identified as temporarily contributing to the enterococcus count.
