Infrastructure – King County Wastewater Treatment Division

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 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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Workers wearing neon safety vests and hard hats load a wastewater pump onto a truck.

Infrastructure

August 23, 2023

Massive Pumps at West Point Treatment Plant Get a Tune Up

The pumps that push wastewater through West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle are massive and old. In service since 1993, it was time for a tune-up. By tapping into the expertise of local repair shops, the project was fast tracked…

Marie Fiore

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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Infrastructure WTD Updates

April 19, 2023

West Point Treatment Plant: laying the foundation for climate change resilience

We’re making quick progress on a major Power Quality Improvement Project that will provide our operators with the uninterruptable, high-quality power they need to protect Puget Sound when utility power disruptions occur.

Marie Fiore

Infrastructure

March 16, 2023

King County turns to new contracting method to fix critical wastewater pipes

To address critical project needs, King County submitted a case for an alternative method of project delivery called “progressive design build.” This contracting method brings designers and builders to the same table at the early stages of project development.

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Infrastructure WTD Updates

March 1, 2023

Ready for the next rainy season? Work to shore up clean water systems begins now.

Rain doesn’t belong in the sewer, but it gets in through cracks in sewer pipes or from drains on building roofs and foundations connected to the sewer system. In some parts of Seattle, sewer and stormwater systems are combined.

Marie Fiore

Infrastructure Operations

July 28, 2022

Flying Solo

The use of an RPAS—or Remotely Piloted Aircraft System—by the County began about six years ago, but it is only recently that WTD came to own and operate our own devices.

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The Georgetown station as viewed from the intersection.

Infrastructure Operations

July 18, 2022

The first Envision Platinum sustainability award in the state

King County’s Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment Station (WWTS) earned the coveted “Platinum” designation from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s Envision rating system.

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Two men in hardhats and safety clothing stand smiling at the camera. A railing and trees are in the background.

Infrastructure Operations

May 27, 2022

If you live in the City of Carnation, do you know where water goes after you send it down the drain?

Unless you use a septic system, the water you send down the drain travels to King County’s Carnation Treatment Plant where we process about 111,000 gallons of wastewater every day.

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A graphic with trees that shows how the Treatment Planning Program intersects with other parts of our utility's business

Infrastructure Operations

January 24, 2022

Planning ahead to treat wastewater

We have some of the largest wastewater treatment plants in the country. It takes a decade or more to build large wastewater projects, so it’s important we plan ahead. That’s where our planning staff and programs come in.

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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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