King County is committed to protecting water quality and reducing harm to fish and aquatic life in Puget Sound’s shallow bays caused by human sources of nitrogen. The Department of Natural Resources and Parks supports a science-based approach that capitalizes on innovation and technology and focuses public resources where they can make a real difference.…
King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) is being recognized for its commitment to sustainable communities and the environment. WTD’s Sunset / Heathfield Pump Stations and force main upgrade project was awarded an Envision® Silver Award this month for project sustainability. This is the second Envision-certified project for the region’s wastewater utility. In 2018, King County’s…
The West Point Treatment Plant processes about 100 million gallons of wastewater each day, and up to 440 million gallons during heavy rains. While the plant’s operators are working hard to keep the treatment process flowing smoothly, a momentary lapse of power supply quality can bring vital equipment operations to a hard stop. That’s why in February 2021, King County Executive Dow Constantine signed an emergency declaration and the King County Council authorized up to $65 million to provide West Point with more reliable power. The team…
When local schools began closing in March 2020 due to COVID-19, our utility’s education team quickly adapted the normal in-person field trips to live, virtual programs that fit science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
This July, our utility held an online program for high school-aged students to learn how to help protect clean water in our region. The Clean Water Ambassadors Certificate Program, done in partnership with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, ran for four weeks and was open to all high school-aged youth in the King County…
Are you hosting remote meetings? King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) would like to share some advice that will make your meetings more accessible. Not too long ago, a pandemic might mean intense social isolation for some. Today, technology lets us stay connected in real time, if not in person. Remote interactions are a lifeline…
For RainWise – a program designed to help property owners physically design and install rain gardens and cisterns – going virtual has had its challenges, but also unique opportunities. The RainWise program, a partnership between King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) and Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), provides rebates for home and property owners to install…
Purified renewable natural gas produced at South Treatment Plant in Renton is now a clean diesel alternative for local commercial trucks. Each year, the volume of renewable natural gas produced at the South Treatment Plant is the energy equivalent of about 1.7 million gallons of diesel fuel.
Cross-posted from KC Employee News Virtual reality is not just for gamers! King County is using HoloLens technology to capture work processes, take advantage of institutional knowledge and enhance staff training using Mixed and Virtual Reality. In a pilot project with Microsoft and Taqtile, King County’s Departments of Information Technology and Natural Resources and Parks captured work processes…
This fall, WTD earned an $894,970 grant from Puget Sound Energy for a pump replacement project at South Plant that will save enough electricity to power 212 homes a year. Read how our team of engineers, energy experts and plant operators collaborated with each other and with our PSE partners to make this project succeed.
