King County Wastewater Treatment Plants Earn National Environmental Awards

King County's Wastewater Treatment Division earns Platinum Peak Performance Awards from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies for continuing its outstanding compliance with state and federal permit requirements.

King County's Wastewater Treatment Division has earned several Peak Performance Awards from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) for compliance with stringent state and federal pollutant removal requirements for its discharges.

The South Treatment Plant in Renton and the Vashon Treatment Plant each received the Platinum Peak Performance Award. The award honors multiple consecutive years of compliance with effluent limits established by National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit under the federal Clean Water Act and the state’s Water Pollution Control Law.

To date, South Treatment Plant has attained 21 years of 100 percent permit compliance, and Vashon Treatment Plant has attained 8 years of compliance.

To comply with state and federal discharge permit effluent requirements, King County’s treatment plants must remove various pollutants from the wastewater in order to meet set limits for biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, fecal coliform counts and total residual chlorine. The permit conditions also require each plant to conduct regular sampling and testing of both its untreated and treated wastewater.

Each day, King County treats and disinfects nearly 200 million gallons of wastewater for about 1.7 million people in the greater Puget Sound region.

More information about the Peak Performance Awards and list of King County’s prior rankings is available at: https://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wtd/About/System/TreatmentProcess/PeakPerformance.aspx

About the King County Wastewater Treatment Division
King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and enhances the environment by collecting and treating wastewater while recycling valuable resources for the Puget Sound region. The division provides wastewater treatment services to 17 cities, 17 local sewer districts and more than 1.7 million residents across a 420-square-mile area in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties.