World’s Largest Surfing Pool Opens in $40,000,000 Recreation Hub Amidst Massive Water Crisis in Hawaii

World’s largest deep-water standing surf wave pool has recently opened up in Hawaii on an island named Oahu. The island is renowned for having some of the best surfing sites in the world. However, what would’ve otherwise been good news comes at a time when the island is going through a massive water crisis. Amidst such alarming updates, opening the pool to better attract tourists has caused major unrest among the locals.

The natives believe that the inflow of tourists will lead to an increase in their suffering instead of furthering their financial statuses. This brings us to the question – what is this new pool all about? How will it contribute to the water crisis?

The Wai Kai Wave during the water crisis

First announced in January 2021, the pool is part of a recreational project by Wai Kai named The LineUp. The commercial project included 52 acres of the recreational lagoon and cost $40 million. The world’s largest pool is said to be 100 feet deep with a water capacity of 1.7 million gallons. This amounted to 2.5 times the quantity of water used in a swimming pool used during the Olympics. The pool will be filled with fresh water as developers claimed that using recycled or seawater in the pool was not a feasible option.

The water is being taken through Makakilo Well from Honolulu. The same well is also used for supplying fresh water to the locals for their daily use. With the ongoing water crisis, redirected supply of water to the recreational spot from the limited resource has caused grave distress among the citizens. “They’re opening the largest wave pool on the island of Oahu in a water crisis,” water rights activist Healani Sonoda-Pale told CBS News.

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She continued, “…They’re 100 feet away from families who don’t have access to clean drinking water. And there you see the dichotomy of the haves and the have-nots of how industry will continue, despite the fact that their neighbors are suffering.” Moreover, this project has also raised eyebrows because of the increasing water contamination elements.

The poly-fluoroalkyl substances plaguing the fresh waters

The coasts of Hawaii have been dealing with a chemical substance named poly-fluoroalkyl a.k.a. PFAS since 2019. A huge quantity of this substance was released into the waters in November 2022 from the Red Hill Storage facility located not far from the recent development project. Netizens believe that with another development site, the possibility of history repeating itself is high. The PFAS take a considerably longer period of time to break down and contaminate the fresh waters.

However, overlooking the concerns of the citizens, the Department of Health claimed in February that a little exposure to these substances won’t be life-threatening. However, they did admit that long-term consumption will be dangerous. The solution provided by the department is that locals should install a house filtration system to reduce the percentage of these substances in the water.

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As the impending waves of disaster await the locals, questions and concerns are left unanswered.