King County Wastewater Treatment Division Accomplishments

2001

• Controlling overflows
• Protecting safety
• Reclaiming wastewater
• Siting Brightwater Treatment Plant
• Launching Productivity Initiative

Controlling overflows

Building storage for stormwater in Bothell. King County broke ground for in Bothell in November for a storage facility next to the North Creek Pump Station that will provide stormwater capacity and help avoid overflows during heavy rains.

Improving pump station in Rainier Beach . Construction improvements to the Henderson Pump Station in Rainier Beach began in November. The capacity will increase from 8 to 19.5 million gallons per day. The multiyear project will reduce the number of combined sewer overflow discharges from the pump station into Lake Washington to less than one event per year.

Protecting safety

Protecting the safety of employees, public health and public facilities is without question the division's highest priority. Regional and national events in 2001, most notably the Nisqually Earthquake and the September terrorist attacks, forever changed the way the division operates.

Employees responded to these safety-related issues by improving safety standards, plans, and procedures as well as the design and construction of facilities. All the while, the division reduced the number of loss-time accidents.

Reclaiming wastewater

Reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater that can be safely used for various nondrinking water uses such as irrigation and industrial processes. The WTD already produces more than 290 million gallons a year of reclaimed water for landscape irrigation, industrial processes and heating and cooling.

To help make well-researched decisions, staff launched an Advanced Technology Demonstration Project at the West Point Treatment Plant and a demonstration garden at the Hollywood Pump Station in Redmond in the early summer. The demonstration projects tested the performance and operation of several alternative ways to treat wastewater to produce reclaimed water.

Siting Brightwater Treatment Plant

Early in the year, seven locations in King and Snohomish counties were named as possible locations for siting a new regional treatment plant known as Brightwater. The WTD hosted community meetings to discuss the proposed locations. Mid-year, monitoring wells were installed along potential pipeline routes to gather soil and geologic data that helped officials in their siting decision.

In September, the King and Snohomish County Executives narrowed the list to two candidates for the next phase of the siting process-advanced environmental study.

Launching Productivity Initiative

In April, following an 18-month planning phase, the County Executive and Council approved the WTD's Productivity Initiative as a King County pilot program. The division's goal is to become the best public wastewater utility by 2005 and as competitive as any privatized wastewater operation by 2010.

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For questions about the Wastewater Treatment Division Web site, please send an e-mail message. For general information about the division, contact us at:

Department of Natural Resources and Parks
Wastewater Treatment Division
201 S. Jackson St., Suite 505
Seattle, WA 98104-3855
Phone: 206-684-1280
Fax: 206-684-1741
Telecommunication device for the deaf (TTY): 711

Updated: April 19, 2007
 

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