Wastewater treatment utility earns prestigious national awards for environmental protection

King County's Wastewater Treatment Division has earned two national awards from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies for outstanding compliance with its state and federal permit requirements.

Both the South Treatment Plant in Renton and the West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle received Platinum Peak Performance awards for attaining five consecutive years of 100 percent compliance with effluent limits their respective National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits under the federal Clean Water Act and the state’s Water Pollution Control Law.

Only 76 treatment plants in the United States earned the Platinum Peak Performance award this year.
To comply with state and federal discharge permit effluent limits, the county’s treatment plants must remove various pollutants from the wastewater in order to meet set limits for biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, fecal coliform counts and total residual chlorine. The permit conditions also require each plant to conduct regular sampling and testing of both its untreated and treated wastewater.

This is the ninth consecutive platinum-level award for South Treatment Plant, and the first ever for West Point Treatment Plant.

“These awards reflect the dedication of the wastewater professionals who staff our regional treatment plants," said King County Executive Ron Sims. “Five years of perfect compliance supports regional efforts to clean up Puget Sound and protect the quality of life that makes this such a great place to live and work, so this is a significant accomplishment.”

Each day, King County’s two regional treatment plants treat and disinfect about 170 million gallons of wastewater, which is discharged deep into Puget Sound.

The South Plant treats wastewater from east and south King County, southeast Snohomish County and northeast Pierce County.

West Point treats wastewater from Seattle, north King County and southwest Snohomish County.

More information about the Peak Performance Awards and list of King County’s prior rankings is available on the Web at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/homepage/awards.htm

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 districts 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.