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WTD workers guide the installation of a large metal truss with a crane.
In case you missed it: big (and we mean big) things are happening for our Power Quality Improvement (PQI) project! On Aug. 14-19 and Aug. 21, seven 86-foot-long trusses paraded through Magnolia for delivery at West Point. To put it into perspective, one truss is over two pickleball courts long.
These seven trusses will span across the roof of the new power quality building. The PQI project will increase power reliability and resiliency as our region experiences more frequent severe storms due to climate change.
Watch a video of the truss installation here.
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Intermediate Pump Refurbishment Project: ahead of schedule & under budget
Image: Aerial view of West Point Treatment Plant.
WTD will be able to save more than $5 million on refurbishing West Point’s three Intermediate Pump Stations (IPS) pumps. WTD was able to do this by learning some major lessons from the first pump refurbishment, which took place last summer.
The project initially planned to refurbish one pump per year from 2022 to 2024, but the West Point staff will be able to remove and refurbish the two remaining pumps this summer, one year ahead of schedule.
In constant service since installation in 1993, the three IPS pumps help move more than 100 million gallons of wastewater throughout West Point during the rainy season. Thanks to the hard work of the IPS project team, West Point Operations and Maintenance crews and local refurbishment vendors, the three pumps will remain in service for at least another 20 years.
Watch a video of the pump installation here.
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Save the date: October community meetings
Join us in October for our annual West Point Treatment Plant community meeting! We want to connect with you to share updates about our capital projects and other happenings around West Point. We’ll share the current status of our projects, including project purpose and benefits, project schedules and upcoming milestones.
We’ll have in-person and virtual meeting options for whichever suits you best - save the date and stay tuned!
- Thursday, Oct. 19 | 6 - 7 p.m. | virtual
- Thursday, Oct. 26 | 6 - 7:30 p.m. | in person
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WTD crews with the NACWA Platinum 5 award.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) awarded West Point a Platinum 5 award this summer. This award recognizes the treatment plant for five straight years of "complete and consistent National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit compliance." This means that West Point has treated your wastewater exceptionally five years in a row!
All five of King County's treatment plants have received awards from NACWA. Plus, WTD’s Operator in Training (OIT) Program received the 2023 National Environmental Achievement Award for “initiatives that have made a remarkable impact on environmental protection, the advancement of the water sector, and the betterment of their communities.”
Recap: Seafair Indian Days Powwow
Image: West Point operator Robinson takes a selfie at the Seafair Indian Days Powwow.
Did you make it to the 34th Seafair Indian Days Powwow in July? We loved celebrating Native American and Indigenous culture at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center!
Our team was there (conveniently close to a frybread stand) to talk with community members about what we do and who we hire.
If you didn’t make it, we hope you can join us next year! For now, enjoy this shot of Robinson, one of our West Point operators, and our booth.
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Aug. 16 was Wastewater Professionals Day in King County
Image: WTD staff celebrate Wastewater Professionals Day at West Point.
Thanks to Executive Constantine’s recent proclamation, we celebrated our first official Wastewater Professionals Day on Aug. 16!
Here’s a bit from Executive Constantine himself: I call upon the people of the Puget Sound region to consider the harmful substances they put down their drains, pipes, and toilets and collaborate in the public mission held by wastewater professionals to protect the water quality we collectively rely on.
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A rubber ducky and stormtrooper celebrate after being pulled from wastewater.
One of the first stops for wastewater coming into West Point is at a bar screen.
Bar screens are designed to capture solid materials that find their way into our pipes. These include the major culprits of clogs like wipes and trash.
At West Point, these materials are pulled from the water, and collected and taken to a landfill. But occasionally something in the bar screen catches the eye of an operator who saves it from the garbage pile.
Yes, we’re serious – these unlikely friends made their way into our wastewater stream all the way to the treatment plant. What the flush?!
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Did you notice the tree and American flag sticking out of the final truss in our drone footage?
This comes from a tradition for construction and iron workers called topping out. These symbols celebrate the completion of a building’s framing, and crews attach them to the final beam as it is hoisted to the top.
The first evidence of this tradition dates back to Scandinavia in 700 A.D.!
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