Big Island mayor Harry Kim and the County of Hawai'i have been named the winners of the 2008 Hawaii Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Project and Clean Water State Revolving Fund Project of the Year Awards.

The awards ceremony will be at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Kona Outdoor Circle in Kailua, Kona. The award is given out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and the Hawai'i Department of Health.

Hawai'i County is being recognized for its innovative financing and leadership work on replacing existing cesspools at county facilities with on-site wastewater systems. It also assisted other partners in improving wastewater systems. For the drinking water award, the county is being recognized for improving drinking water sources for the Pahala and Honomu communities. The projects included drilling new wells and installing new pumps, piping, and chlorination systems, and at Honomu, building of a new concrete reservoir.