WaiHome has developed two companion technologies that, when paired with Mata, form a complete treatment and disposal system designed to safeguard Hawaiʻi’s delicate coastal ecosystems.
Designing for Hawaiʻi
WaiHome is developing an integrated wastewater system designed around the constraints of island soils, groundwater, and coastal sensitivity. As part of this effort, and in coordination with the Department of Health and the University of Hawaiʻi, we are advancing toward compliance and refining two technologies that work with Mata to complete our treatment system.
Step 1 — Solid Separation: Mata is a solid waste interceptor. It removes solids at the source, while a septic tank settles solids and stores them for years, allowing nutrients to solubilize and leave with liquids into the ground.
Mata's aboveground installation for homes with raised foundations eliminates the excavation costs that make septic tanks so expensive to install here in Hawaiʻi.
Step 2 — Liquid Treatment: The DOH will require some homes in environmentally sensitive areas to add an additional aerobic treatment unit (ATU) after their septic tank to further polish the liquid effluent. These ATU's significantly increase costs by adding another underground tank to your system, this one with an energy intensive aeration pump.
Patu stands for "Passive Aerobic Treatment Unit". Instead of aeration pumps, WaiHome's Patu uses algae to produce oxygen naturally through photosynthesis to minimize your electricity bill. Just like the Mata, the Patu is installed aboveground, doubling as a privacy screen in your backyard.
Step 3 — Soil Disposal: Leach fields are used to infiltrate your wastewater after it's been treated. These networks of perforated pipes are typically installed several feet below ground, but as you know now, that can be a problem with the high groundwater tables and shallow bedrock here in Hawai'i.
Sawa is an excavation-free disposal system installed below your lanai. The disposal chambers are completely enclosed so all liquids are injected down into the ground, but unlike traditional underground systems, an excavator doesn't have to dig up your entire backyard to do it.
Patu | Liquid Treatment
Treatment Function: Patu is a passive, algae-driven polishing stage that removes nitrogen and dissolved organics using natural biological processes. What looks like a simple privacy screen is actually a series of tubular photo-bioreactors where living algae provide tertiary treatment: consuming nitrogen.
This “Passive Aerobic Treatment Unit” accomplishes what a mechanical aerobic treatment unit does, but without the pumps, blowers, or electrical demand. Patu adds a cleaner, more regenerative final stage of treatment before disposal in sensitive receiving environments.
Architectural Application: Shading, screening.
Sawa | At-Grade Disposal
Treatment Function: Sawa is an at-grade leaching system designed for sites where traditional leach fields are impractical. The chambers are inserted into the ground, not buried, allowing water to slowly percolate back into the soil above the groundwater table - where bacteria in the soil can naturally add another layer of treatment.
Unlike traditional leach fields that limit land use, Sawa’s can have a deck built over them: giving you a place of relaxation and a system that delivers consistent, passive treatment.
