This month, Oʻahu residents and businesses will see a 6% rate hike to their sewer bill — the first hike in a decade. The city set a schedule for the next five years to raise billions to fix an aging sewer system and make upgrades mandated by new environmental laws.
Just a few weeks ago, Oʻahu residents saw a break in a sewage pipe near Nimitz Highway that spilled close to a quarter million gallons of wastewater into the Nuʻuanu Stream.
The Conversation spoke to Roger Babcock, director of the Honolulu Department of Environmental Services, to share why this hike is in place.
Babcock told HPR that some upgrades will replace outdated systems, while others are required to meet new and evolving regulations.
"We have these things that are required, that we need to do, that we have to do, and not just the things that we're being told we have to do," he said. "It's also being proactive, too, so we avoid failures and spills and all those things. And that's a big challenge with aging infrastructure."
Babcock explained the new fee structure, which is a mix of fixed base fees and volumetric fees — dependent on water use.
“What we did is we tried to reduce the base charge, which is the charge that you have no control over, and increase the volumetric charge, which is based on how much water you use,” Babcock said.
“The idea there is to give folks greater control of their sewer bill. So if it was 100% fixed charge, then you have absolutely no control. You pay the same amount every month, no matter how much water you use — whereas if you have a much smaller portion that is fixed, then that means that it's almost all based on how much water you use, which you do have control over. So that's the idea, if you use less, then you pay less.”
The department is also introducing a program called CARES or Customer Assistance for Residential Environmental Services, which will provide up to a $20 sewer bill credit for low-income households each month.
This story aired on The Conversation on Jan. 8, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
