Public invited to celebrate Earth Day and four decades of clean water at West Point Treatment Plant open house

To celebrate 40 years of clean water in our region, King County's Wastewater Treatment Division is inviting the public to an open house at the West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle's Magnolia Neighborhood from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Earth Day, Saturday April 22. The plant is at 1400 Utah Street West, past the Government Way entrance of Discovery Park.

The West Point Treatment Plant came online in 1966, ending an era when untreated sewage flowed directly into Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Today, Lake Washington is one of the cleanest urban lakes in the world and Puget Sound beaches are once again a regional treasure. The West Point plant treats an average of 97 million gallons of wastewater a day from as far north as Mill Creek in Snohomish County. And it's provided environmentally responsible wastewater treatment service for several other cities and sewer districts in north and central King County.

King County is hosting the open house to thank its customers and neighbors of the plant for their support in protecting public health, water quality and the environment. The event will offer a variety of fun and educational activities for all ages to enjoy. People can tour the treatment plant and learn about the past, present and future of regional wastewater treatment, take guided walks on nearshore ecology and archeology, and get natural yard care tips, including how to make a worm bin.

Visitors can also meet some of our region's clean-water pioneers, see historical displays and photographs, view artwork from students at Dimmit Middle School, watch Native American drumming and dancing by members of the Suquamish Tribe, enjoy some refreshments, shake a fin of Bert the Salmon, meet Princess Sparklingclear, and see how the plant creates resources from wastewater.

There will also be green technology demonstrations from Durand-Wayland, Inc. The company is introducing a laser-coding method for fruit and vegetables that will help keep produce stickers out of the treatment plant and out of the biosolids used as a soil amendment by Eastern Washington farmers. Southern Oregon Sales, a pear wholesaler, will display and hand out laser-coded fruit.

More information about the open house and West Point Treatment Plant is available at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/westpoint/wp40yrs.htm on the Web.

Directions to the plant are available at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/directions/index.htm. Because of limited parking, visitors are urged to carpool, hike or bike to the plant. Reasonable disability accommodations will be available at the open house on request. Call 206-296-8361 or 711 (TTY) for more information.

People enjoy clean water and a healthy environment because of King County's wastewater treatment program. The county's Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and water quality by serving 17 cities, 17 local sewer utilities and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Formerly called Metro, the regional clean-water agency now operated by King County has been preventing water pollution for more than 40 years.