On the island of Kauai in Kauai County is a small community on the southern portion of the island called Kalaheo. The population of Kalaheo is about 5,000 and is just west of the island Oahu where Honolulu is located.

Hawaii Route 50 goes through the community of Kalaheo, Hawaii connecting to other towns like Lāwaʻi, ʻEleʻele, Puhi, and Lihue. Nearby attractions include Secret Beach, Glass Beach, Allerton Garden, Kukuiolono Park & Golf Course, Manawaiopuna Falls, along with a variety of Forest Reserve areas throughout the island.

Also located in their community is Kauai Coffee Company. This coffee brand grows coffee on the island with its rich Hawaiian soil and abundant rainfall. Their estate has over 4 million coffee trees on its 3,100 acres. It is the largest coffee grower in the United States. They grow, roast, and package high quality coffee for everyone to enjoy. At the estate, guests can take free tours of the coffee plantation, try various tastings, and stop by the visitor center at the largest coffee farm in the U.S.

McBryde Resources, an Alexander & Baldwin company, contacted Romtec Utilities to design and retrofit an old existing “split case” pump station that was heavily damaged in a fire. McBryde emphasized from the beginning that the retrofit needed to be completed as quickly as possible.

The Kauai Coffee Company required 15 million-gallons-per-day of clean water from the McBryde pump station at its coffee plantation.

Romtec Utilities sent a technician to Hawaii to evaluate the retrofit pump station. Using that information, a large triplex turbine system was designed, manufactured, and supplied. The total project from first contact to start-up only took 5 months for this very large retrofit pump station.

At Romtec Utilities we are able to quickly turnaround a project once we understand what is needed for a project and the requirements around the pumping system. Once we get started, we can design, manufacture, and supply the entire pump system directly to the project site and meet quick timelines.

This retrofit pump station package replaced several key components in a clean water pumping system that was destroyed by a fire. Three large 450 HP vertical turbine pumps manufactured by Goulds Water Technology which replaced the split-case pumps used in the previous infrastructure.

The water pumped through this pump station was for irrigation purposes and needed to maintain high flow rates against high head conditions. The 12″ to 24″ Val-Matic Series 2000 butterfly valves were supplied with extra strong flanges and fittings to withstand the high-pressure pumping conditions.

This project for the Kauai Coffee Company plantation in Kalaheo, Hawaii is a prime example of what Romtec Utilities can provide for a large-scale irrigation project with clean water with continuous high flow and high head pumping.

Since the previous system was damaged in a fire, the design and retrofit of the “split case” pump replacement needed to be done quickly and Romtec Utilities was able to deliver the project on time.