King County Wastewater Treatment Division Accomplishments

2000

• Carrying out Regional Wastewater Services Plan
• Starting, completing construction projects
• Earning awards for wastewater treatment
• Recycling wastewater biosolids to improve soil
• Developing a Habitat Conservation Plan
• Responding to rising energy costs

Carrying out Regional Wastewater Services Plan

The WTD's Regional Wastewater Services Plan, approved by the County Council in 1999, outlines in necessary improvements and expansion to deal with growth during the next 30 years.

• Studying outfall locations for Brightwater. In the plan's first year, WTD studied marine outfall locations for the proposed Brightwater Treatment Plant's treated water discharge, and a siting advisory committee helped develop criteria to begin narrowing a list of potential sites for the plant.
• Planning projects to prevent overflows, reuse treated wastewater. WTD began planning and design of several conveyance projects, including improvements to safeguard the north end against overflows into Lake Washington. The division completed a water reuse work plan that identifies goals, priorities and tasks for a reuse program for the next five years.
• Learning more about unnecessary clean water in the sewer system. The Inflow and Infiltration team collected information on stormwater and groundwater from more than 800 flow monitoring gauges and 73 rain gauges to decrease the unnecessary and costly treatment of clean water at the treatment plants.

Starting, completing construction projects

The WTD's Design and Construction Section completed 85 projects to increase productivity and safety at existing facilities. Another 15 capital Asset management projects were completed that extend the economic and useful life of existing facilities. The section also managed the design and construction of 12 major projects to expand capacity and solve overflow problems, thus protecting public health and the environment.

The North Creek Diversion Project, which provides more capacity in the Kenmore Interceptor pipeline and at the South Treatment Plant, was awarded the Distinguished Project Award in October 2000 by the Northwest Construction Consumer Council.

Earning awards for wastewater treatment

In 2000, WTD's two regional treatment plants processed an average of 216 million gallons of wastewater per day without major incident. In recognition of this performance, both of our treatment facilities received the American Metropolitan Sewerage Agency (now called the National Association of Clean Water Agencies) Gold Award.

Recycling wastewater biosolids to improve soil

Useful byproducts of the wastewater treatment process are used within the plants or recycled by outside users. For example, 29,320 tons of biosolids were transported and applied to agricultural sites (mostly in Eastern Washington) as a soil amendment.

Developing a Habitat Conservation Plan

The Habitat Conservation Plan is a broad review of our current operational and planned system upgrades, examining potential environmental impacts that may affect the species listed in the Endangered Species Act. In 2000, WTD developed a comprehensive list of nearly 70 species to be covered in the HCP.

A team of WTD and Water and Land Resources staff began work with National Marine Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services on potential impacts of WTD discharges on salmonids.

Responding to rising energy costs

In December 2000, the County Executive and WTD management declared a state of emergency in response to the energy crisis hitting the West Coast. Besides continuing conservation measures already in place, the South Treatment Plant reduced overall energy use by one-third on days with the highest rates of the year. That reduction was achievable through extreme, nonsustainable conservation measures along with shifting flows to the West Point Treatment Point.

WTD also rented three diesel generators as protection against out-of-control energy rates and as a power back up during the emergency. Even with these measures, the December 2000 electricity bill for the South Plant was $1.8 million (compared with $200,000 a year ago).

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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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