Mission -- The King County Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and enhances the environment by treating and reclaiming wastewater, recycling solids and generating energy.

Year in review - 2008

• What we do
• 2008 accomplishments
• Outlook

What we do

The King County Wastewater Treatment Division provides safe, environmentally responsible wholesale wastewater treatment services to 17 cities, 17 local sewer districts and more than 1.4 million residents across a 420-square-mile area in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties.

Its nearly 630 employees maintain and operate the facilities that collect and treat wastewater, plan, design and construct new facilities, regulate industrial waste disposal, and educate the public and businesses on ways to protect water quality.

The division is also guided by its forward-thinking vision, “Creating Resources from Wastewater,” to research and invest in new technologies to turn the byproducts from the wastewater treatment process into valuable resources for the community and the environment.

In 2008, King County recycled 100 percent of its biosolids, providing enough nutrients to fertilize about 7,000 acres of farms and forests.

2008 accomplishments

Resource recovery and conservation

Recyclable biosolids, the nutrient-rich organic byproduct of the treatment process, are in high demand as fertilizer for crops, to revegetate forests and clear-cut areas and as an ingredient in com-post for landscaping and home gardens. Other beneficial uses for biosolids are currently being explored.

The division continues to expand its capture and use of gas and heat created in the treatment process through alternative “green” energy technologies. In 2008, planning efforts continued to implement the Waste-to-Energy cogeneration project at West Point Treatment Plant to increase the use of digester gas as a source of heat and power.

Work also got under way on a Reclaimed Water Comprehensive Plan, which will provide opportunities for regional discussion to determine if, when, and how King County should expand the availability of reclaimed water from its plants.

New treatment facilities are being built using a variety of sustainable design methods. The Carnation Treatment Plant, completed in 2008, boasts numerous “green” fea-tures to minimize impacts on the environment, conserve resources and maximize energy efficiency. The plant earned the Small Project of the Year Award from the WateReuse Association for its innovative use of reclaimed water to enhance wetlands and preserve habitat at Chinook Bend Natural Area.

Keeping pace with growth: building new facilities

The county’s Wastewater Treatment Division invested more than $500 million in dozens of vital sewer improvement projects to ensure the regional system keeps pace with growth and continues meeting regulatory requirements.

Tunnel boring machine “Luminita” breaks ground as the first Brightwater tunnel segment is completed.

The Carnation Treatment Plant begins operating in May 2008 after two years of construction.

The division made significant progress on Brightwater, the county’s largest clean-water project since the 1960s. Contractors completed the first 2.6-mile segment of the 13-mile-long wastewater pipeline that will run up to 450 feet below ground from the Brightwater plant north of Woodinville to Point Wells near Shoreline. All four tunneling machines operated in 2008.

Construction on Brightwater’s mile-long, 600-foot deep marine outfall was completed in October.

At the Brightwater Treatment Plant site, contractors began building facilities to process solids, control odors, and power the plant. Brightwater’s North Mitigation Area, which includes 40 acres of open space at the north portion of the treatment plant site, is completed and scheduled to open for public use in 2009.

Construction continued this year on a pipeline system to bring reclaimed water produced at the Brightwater Treatment Plant to irrigators and industrial customers in north King and south Snohomish counties.

Other capital improvement milestones include the completion of the Carnation Treatment System (view plant dedication page), which began operating in May and will serve about 2,000 Carnation residents.

Environmental cleanup and pollution control

The South Treatment Plant in Renton and the West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle earned Platinum Peak Performance awards for outstanding compliance with its state and federal permit requirements.

An environmental cleanup project completed in February successfully removed more than 14,000 cubic yards of historically contaminated sediment – enough to fill 1,400 dump trucks – from Elliott Bay near Myrtle Edwards Park. The contamination had accumulated during decades of stormwater and sewage overflows discharged through an outfall that was removed in 2004.

The division’s Industrial Waste Program regulates disposal of harmful substances to protect the environment, as well as WTD’s workers and facilities. In 2008, WTD celebrated the fifth anniversary of a waste reduction program requiring local dentists to install amalgam separators, keeping more than 375 pounds of mercury out of the wastewater system since 2003. Division employees testified before the U.S. Congress about the program.

WTD was also part of a countywide effort to assist in the development of the Puget Sound Partnership’s action agenda (external link), ensuring cleanup plans would be scientifically sound and feasible to implement.

Commitment to good management

Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s upgraded King County sewer revenue bond ratings in 2008 (view news release), citing progress made on the Brightwater project, strong management practices, continued positive financial performance and commitment to capital improvement.

The Moody’s rating went from A1 to Aa3, while S&P raised their rating from AA to AA+. The county issued $350 million in sewer revenue bonds to finance capital construction projects for the county’s regional wastewater system, which includes the new Brightwater plant.

For ratepayers, the strong bond ratings help minimize the cost of borrowing to fund capital improvement projects.

The agency continues to operate according to the 10-year Productivity Initiative Pilot Program established by the County Council in 2001. While the division fell short of its productivity goal established by the 2000 wastewater budget baseline, the program in 2008 still achieved more than $9.2 million in planned savings, including $1.5 million in savings generated by employee actions. To date, the productivity initiative has saved ratepayers more than $51 million.

Water quality monitoring ensures the division meets its commitments to public health and the environment.

Partnerships

King County is entering into a “twinning” agreement with the Wastewater Management Authority of Thailand. Under the agreement, King County and Thai wastewater managers will share best practices for wastewater treatment plant maintenance and operation, financing and public education.

Outlook

In 2009 and beyond, the Wastewater Treatment Division will continue meeting its obligation to protect public health and the environment by conveying and treating the region’s wastewater. The division will also continue to advance its environmental agenda by creating resources from wastewater, developing an energy plan, preparing for climate change and conducting environmental cleanup and operating source control programs.