Septic Installation & Cesspool Conversion in Kurtistown

We install septic systems and convert cesspools in Kurtistown, a few minutes up Highway 11 from our Keaau equipment yard. Unlike the 1950s subdivisions around it, Kurtistown grew out of turn-of-the-century homesteads and a general store on the old Volcano road, so it never followed the uniform lot grid of the subdivisions next door.

Kurtistown Quick Facts

  • Population: 2,515 in the 2020 Census, compared with 1,298 in 2010. The census area also changed between counts (about 5.9 square miles in 2010, 7.15 in 2020), so part of that jump reflects a bigger boundary.
  • Housing units: 905 in 2020, with 6.6 percent vacant.
  • Elevation: about 633 feet at the census center point.
  • Rainfall: about 165 inches a year near the center of town, per the UH Rainfall Atlas, a bit wetter than Orchidland or HPP below it.
  • Location: Highway 11 runs through town, about 10 miles from Hilo and about 20 miles from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Kurtistown borders Keaau, Orchidland Estates, Hawaiian Acres and Mountain View.
  • Lava hazard zone: USGS maps the town center in Zone 3.
  • ZIP code: 96760.

A Town Built on Olaa Homesteads

Kurtistown takes its name from A.G. Curtis, one of the pioneers in Olaa when the Olaa Sugar Company started operations in the early 1900s. A post office opened in Curtis’s general store, around the 11-mile mark on the Volcano road, and it was named Kurtistown. Curtis himself held a 50-acre homestead lot and grew cane he sold to Olaa Sugar under contract.

That homestead pattern is what makes Kurtistown different from its neighbors. Around 1900, the government sold the Olaa tract in 50-acre lots, with buyers required to live on the land and keep part of it in cultivation. Coffee came first, and Olaa once had about 6,000 acres in coffee before most of it went to sugar cane. Nurseries and small farms are still common around town today. Because Kurtistown started as homesteads rather than a surveyed grid of identical lots, lot sizes and shapes vary more here than in the subdivisions next door.

Why that history matters for your septic system

  • Old lots and the land rule. The state wants 10,000 square feet of land for each system, unless the lot was recorded before late August 1991. On a small Kurtistown lot, that recording date matters, and your engineer will check it.
  • Setbacks on tight lots. On a small lot, the required clearance from the house and the lot lines (more for a seepage pit) largely decides where the tank and field can fit.
  • Unknown history. On older properties that have changed hands several times, old cesspools and buried tanks aren’t always where anyone remembers. We locate them before we dig.

Rain, Rock and the Ground Under Town

Kurtistown sits higher and wetter than the subdivisions makai of it, at roughly 165 inches of rain a year. Wet ground slows excavation and backfill. If you’re pumping a cesspool more than twice in 12 months, DOH has the option to require an upgrade.

Where a lot sits on fractured lava, the leach field has to be built as a soil replacement system, with engineered fill keeping effluent three feet or more above groundwater. How much natural soil covers the rock varies from lot to lot, and the engineer’s test pit settles it for yours.

Typical Kurtistown Projects

Any home built before the March 2016 cesspool ban may still be on a cesspool. Common jobs:

  • Cesspool conversions on older homes, often when the cesspool fails, the owner wants to add a bedroom, or a sale is coming up. Our conversion process guide walks through each step.
  • New homes and ohana units on farm parcels. Bigger households or a house plus ohana can outgrow the single-system limit, so plan for that early.
  • Septic pumping and service. Regular septic pumping keeps a new tank healthy. ATU owners also need a maintenance contract, with a service visit twice a year.

Access From Highway 11

Most Kurtistown jobs are easy to reach: the town sits right on Highway 11, minutes from our Keaau yard. Side streets and farm driveways vary, and longer gravel driveways on agricultural parcels can soften in heavy rain. We’ll ask about gates, tight turns and overhead lines before we bring the excavator in.

Deadlines, Rules and Funding

  • Under Act 125, the last day a cesspool can legally operate is December 31, 2049. Our Act 125 explainer has the details.
  • New cesspools have been banned since March 2016.
  • A Hawaii-registered engineer designs the system, DOH reviews the plans (the fee is $100), and nothing goes into use until DOH issues its approval to use.
  • Statewide, conversions typically run $20,000 to $50,000.
  • Lower-income rural owners may be able to use USDA Section 504 repair money; the grants and loans page explains who qualifies and where to apply.

Don’t assume you’re on or off county sewer because your neighbor is. The county’s Department of Environmental Management can confirm it for your parcel.

Communities Around Kurtistown

We also serve Keaau, Mountain View, Hawaiian Acres and Orchidland Estates. Our Puna septic services page covers the rest of the district.

Ask About Your Kurtistown Property

Tell us the address, roughly how old the house is, and whether you know where the cesspool is. We’ll come out, look at the lot and explain your options. Request a free estimate

Frequently Asked Questions

My Kurtistown lot is smaller than 10,000 square feet. Can I still convert?

Possibly. The land-area rule doesn’t apply to lots recorded before August 30, 1991. Setbacks still do, so the engineer has to fit everything inside them.

We have no idea where the old cesspool is. Is that common here?

It happens with older homes that have changed hands several times. We locate it before design so the engineer works from the real layout.

How often should a septic tank in Kurtistown be pumped?

It depends on tank size and household use. Have it inspected regularly. If an old cesspool needs pumping more than twice a year, that’s a sign it’s failing.

Does the heavy rain in Kurtistown affect a new system?

Rain mostly affects construction timing and drainage around the field. The design follows the soil profile and the three-foot groundwater separation rule.

Is Kurtistown in a DOH cesspool priority area?

DOH’s 2017 report didn’t publish a street-by-street list for its Keaau-area priority zone. The UH Cesspool Prioritization Tool is the easier way to see how a particular Kurtistown cesspool ranks; our priority area guide walks you through it.

I’m farming on an ag parcel. Does a barn or farm stand need its own system?

Only if it produces wastewater, such as a bathroom or wash station. Your engineer and DOH will decide whether it ties into the house system or needs its own.