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A forklift lifts a tall, boxed package off the pavement. The package is strapped to a wooden pallet and wrapped in clear plastic. The day is overcast and the pavement is wet, as if it had just recently rained. The forklift is flanked by an employee on each side, both wearing bright yellow safety jackets, white hardhats, gloves, safety glasses and dark pants. Various other trucks and vehicles sit in the background of the image.

Infrastructure

December 15, 2023

Giant packages of batteries arrive at West Point, giving the gift of clean water

West Point Treatment Plant has been busy lately receiving truckloads of special deliveries. The giant packages contain the solution to a problem that has plagued the plant for decades.

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A gritty looking action figure sits on a concrete ledge above one of WestPoint’s engine rooms. The character is a white storm trooper from the movie Star Wars. His white suit and helmet are dirty. The concrete ledge that he sits on an off-white color and has many scuffs and scratches, the ledge takes up the bottom third of the photo, with a soft-focus view of an engine room in the distance and behind the action figure. The engine room is a floor down, it has three large engines that are a bright burnt orange color. The pipes and equipment connecting to the engine are a turquoise color that resembles Statue of Liberty’s color. Some grey and yellow piping and equipment are also visible throughout the room.

Operations WTD Updates

November 17, 2023

West Point’s odd collection of adorable mischief-makers displays so many careless flushes

Kids and adults alike are constantly flushing the darndest of objects down their toilet bowls. Some of these things – like wipes, napkins, condoms, and tampons – are well known culprits that clog pipes, jam up equipment, and gunk up…

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A male worker in a yellow safety vest, black hardhat, and clear safety glasses stands to the right of a large, metallic, frame filled with tons of white strings. The frame is being attached to a metal brace by a man on a ladder. The brace is connected to a large yellow crane that sits overhead. A partly cloudy sky makes up the background.

Infrastructure

October 18, 2023

It’s a whale of a job replacing the membrane filters at Brightwater Treatment Plant

What do whales and wastewater treatment have in common? A visit to Brightwater Treatment Plant in Woodinville explains it all.

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A group of the interns observe and take notes at one of the South Treatment Plants clarifiers. They stand along the rails of the clarifier, which is full of water and reflects the overcast sky that makes up the background. The students are wearing safety vests and hardhats.

Community

September 15, 2023

Swapping backpacks for hardhats, a summer job like no other

King County has been partnering with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust since 2016, as part the Wastewater Treatment Division’s efforts to cultivate the next generation of clean water professionals and to build more ties to communities in our service…

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Community

July 19, 2023

As Duwamish River is made cleaner, local artists help community connect to its waters

The Duwamish River has many sides to it – industrial corridor, habitat for migrating salmon, ancestral waters for the people who have long inhabited its shores and waters. Two local artists have been commissioned to capture the complexity of the…

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Infrastructure

June 22, 2023

Look inside this giant new tunnel that will improve water quality in Seattle’s Ship Canal

The famed "MudHoney" drill, Seattle's latest celebrity boring machine, has finished its 100-foot-deep tunnel-boring job. The work took 21 months at a pace of about 50-feet a day.

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Community

June 14, 2023

King County’s wastewater ‘parks’ offer a dose of nature, minus the crowds

King County is home to many great parks and places to enjoy the outdoors. Perhaps lesser known among them are the hidden gems of nature tucked within the county’s wastewater treatment facilities.

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Women in a hardhat, safety vest, and goggles at a wastewater treatment plant pointing at a jar of water

Community

March 22, 2022

Making ‘potty talk’ entertaining, interactive, and educational on World Water Day!

When we are young, we are sometimes told “No potty talk,” but at King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD), we believe in more educational potty talk!

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A worker in a safety vest, hardhat, and mask, inspects the magnesium hydroxide tank at the Brightwater treatment plant. The person is standing on blue scaffolding above the big, white tank

Infrastructure Operations

January 18, 2022

Fine tuning wastewater treatment

Over the last year and a half, staff at our Brightwater Treatment Plant in Woodinville optimized the treatment process in a way that improved staff safety and the performance of the membrane filters.

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