Infrastructure projects support regional environmental, economic goals

Clean-water investments a priority in 2010

Investments in clean-water infrastructure that protect public health, the environment, and support regional economic growth will remain a priority for King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division over the coming year.

In 2010, King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division will invest $324 million in several major capital improvement projects to upgrade and replace aging facilities, expand existing ones and build new facilities, such as the Brightwater Treatment

System to provide enough capacity for the region’s growing population. Projects also include controlling combined sewer overflows and removing contaminated sediments from the Duwamish Waterway.

Here are the major construction and design projects scheduled for 2010 throughout King County:

North King County/South Snohomish County

Brightwater: The county continues to make significant progress on the Brightwater Treatment System project, the largest expansion of the regional wastewater system in almost 50 years.

Seventy percent of construction has been completed on the treatment plant facilities, and contractors will spend 2010 completing major electrical work and beginning the initial testing of treatment facility components.

Contractors have completed mining on 10 miles of the 13-mile treatment system conveyance tunnel and recently resumed work on the eastbound central tunnel, referred to as BT-2. The machine has less than a mile of tunneling to go and is scheduled for completion in 2011. The county is working with its contractors to complete the remaining two miles of the westbound BT-3 tunnel. The county has budgeted $228 million for Brightwater construction in 2010.

East King County

Kirkland Pump Station: The county has budgeted $4 million in 2010 to upgrade a pump station and replace aging pipelines in downtown Kirkland to ensure safe and reliable wastewater service to this growing neighborhood for decades to come. To reduce costs and community impacts, the county is coordinating with Sound Transit on the first part of the upgrade to replace a sewer line located near a new transit center.

Bellevue Pump Station: In 2010, WTD plans to invest $2.5 million to complete construction on upgrades to the Bellevue Pump Station, which pumps about 8 million gallons wastewater each day from west Bellevue to King County's South Treatment Plant in Renton. In addition to adding capacity, the project also includes replacement of the facility’s major mechanical and electrical equipment.

Bellevue Influent Trunk: The county has budgeted $660,000 to begin the final design of a project to replace a segment of sewer line originally constructed in 1966 that has reached capacity.

Bothell-Woodinville Interceptor: To protect public health and ensure system reliability, the county will invest $1.6 million to reline a sewer pipe that parallels the Sammamish River Trail just south of the Woodinville Pump Station. The project is part of the county’s ongoing efforts to address corrosion in pipelines systemwide.

Seattle

Puget Sound Beach CSO Control: King County is making it a priority to control
combined sewer overflows, or CSOs, that occur during heavy rains near popular recreation beaches in West Seattle, North Beach and Magnolia. Project alternatives will be evaluated in 2010 and community members will have opportunities to participate in the decision-making process. The county has budgeted $2.3 million on planning and design in 2010.

Ballard Siphon: King County has budgeted $9.7 million to begin construction on a project to replace a 75-year-old wood stave pipe that extends across the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The new pipe will replace a 36-inch-diameter sewer pipe that was installed in 1935 and currently conveys up to 60 million gallons a day of wastewater across the canal.

Ravenna Creek Transfer Pipeline Extension Project: This project will protect public health and the environment by improving design of existing sewer lines to prevent overflows to University Slough that may occur during very heavy rain storms. The county has budgeted $770,000 in 2010 on this project.

Fremont Siphon: The county has budgeted $900,000 to evaluate alternatives and begin the initial phase of a project to replace the Fremont Siphon, which has been in service for more than 100 years.

Interbay Pump Station: King County is wrapping up final design on a project to replace pumping equipment and aging electrical systems at this critical pump station near Magnolia. The county has budgeted $2.9 million for the project in 2010.

West Point Disinfection Upgrades: To protect public health, plant workers and comply with new Washington State Department of Ecology permitting requirements, King County has budgeted $1.2 million to convert the West Point Treatment Plant’s disinfection system from chlorine gas to sodium hypochlorite. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010.

Waste-to-Energy: The division has budgeted $9.8 million to begin construction on West Point Treatment Plant’s Waste-to-Energy project to construct a facility that will convert digester gas into a source of heat and electrical power.

Sediment Management Program: This program enables King County to address sediment contamination near CSO locations in Puget Sound. The county has budgeted $1.3 million in 2010 to continue its efforts to remove historic CSO contamination and restore habitat at locations in Elliott Bay and the Duwamish Waterway.

South King County

South Treatment Plant improvements: The county has budgeted $12 million for a number of projects at the South Treatment Plant in Renton in 2010 to improve system reliability, increase efficiency and ensure continued compliance with permits. Projects include replacing outmoded control system software, replacing pumps and relining pipes, and improvements to disinfection and odor control systems.

Regionwide

Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund: King County continued its involvement in the Lower Duwamish Waterway Group, which is currently working to develop a cleanup strategy for contaminated sediments in the waterway. In 2009, the group issued the first draft of a feasibility study that evaluated 11 potential cleanup alternatives. The public had an opportunity to comments on the draft, and now a second draft is scheduled to be released in 2010. The county has budgeted nearly $1 million on these efforts.

Regional Infiltration and Inflow Control Program Implementation: In 2010, King County will invest $1.3 million to partner with local sewer agencies on projects to repair leaky pipes in their system to keep stormwater and groundwater out of regional treatment facilities. Controlling the infiltration and inflow can reduce demand for treatment and conveyance capacity, saving ratepayers money.

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.

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Note to editors and reporters: Visit the WTD Newsroom, a portal to information for the news media about the Wastewater Treatment Division, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks: http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wtd/Newsroom.aspx.

Related information

King County Wastewater Treatment