Seattle and King County mandated to improve sewage treatment

By on April 19, 2013
Seattle sewage treatment plant (Credit: Dcoetzee, via Wikimedia Commons)


The city of Seattle and the county that encompasses it will soon upgrade their water management facilities and practices as part of an Environmental Protection Agency mandate for violations to the Clean Water Act, according to an EPA press release.

Raw sewage discharge from 2007 to 2010 in Seattle and 2006 to 2010 in King County totaled about 1.1 billion gallons annually.  Seattle treatment plant operators must reduce that output by 99 percent, according to their settlement with the EPA. King County must reduce its sewage output by a minimum of 95 percent.

Green stormwater management is also part of the settlement. Permeable roads, green roofs and runoff gardens will all be implemented to clean and reduce contaminated stormwater discharge.

Runoff from both areas drains into the Puget Sound, Lake Washington and the Duwamish River.

Image: Seattle sewage treatment plant (Credit: Dcoetzee, via Wikimedia Commons)

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