Clean Water Services: Difference between revisions

'''Clean Water Services''' is the [[water resources]] management utility for more than 560600,000 residents in urban [[Washington County, Oregon]] and small portions of [[Multnomah County, Oregon]] and [[Clackamas County, Oregon]], in the [[United States]]. Clean Water Services operates four [[Sewage treatment|wastewater treatment facilities]], constructs and maintains flood management and water quality projects, and manages flow into the [[Tualatin River]] to improve water quality and protect fish habitat.<ref>Haight, Abby. Stream to get healthy helping of native plants. ''[[The Oregonian]]'', November 29, 2007.</ref> They are headquartered in [[Hillsboro, Oregon|Hillsboro]].<ref name=bio>Much, Justin. Farmers and neighbors debate use of biosolids. ''[[Statesman Journal]]'', November 7, 2007.</ref>

As a wastewater utility, Clean Water Services cleans more than {{convert|60|e6USgal|m3}} of wastewater a day. The watewaterwastewater treatment process uses physical, biological, and chemical treatment to clean wastewater to some of the highest standards in the nation. The cleaned wastewater is then released into the Tualatin River.<ref name=cons>Griffin, Jeff. Overcoming pipebursting challenges--on time, under budget; Rehabilitation TECHNOLOGY. ''Underground Construction'', February 1, 2007. Pg. 49(2) Vol. 62 No. 2 {{ISSN|1092-8634}}.</ref> The wastewater is collected by a vast network of more than {{convert|800|mi|km}} of sewer lines and 39 pump stations and routed to one of four treatment plants—Durham, Rock Creek, Hillsboro and Forest Grove.

Ten percent of the wastewater treated by Clean Water Services is used for irrigation and in area wetlands during the summer months.<ref>Mayes, Steve. Two-pipe system with fresh, recycled water taps into future. ''[[The Oregonian]]'', August 29, 2005.</ref> [[Biosolids]] recovered through the treatment process are sold to farmers in the region as fertilizer.<ref name=bio/> Additionally, the [https://web.archive.org/web/20100328183557/http://www.cleanwaterservices.org/AboutUs/WastewaterAndStormwater/Ostara.aspx Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility] is the first in the nation to recover fertilizer from a natural byproduct of wastewater treatment.<ref>Smith, Kennedy. Tigard treatment plant turns waste into fertilizer. ''Daily Journal of Commerce'', June 1, 2007.</ref> In 2007 the Durham facility began working with [http://www.ostara.com Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies] to construct a $2.5 million multi-reactor plant <ref>Smith, Jill Rehkopf. Kennedy lauds sewage plant's green setup. "[[The Oregonian]]", June 11, 2009.</ref> that allows the Durham facility to run part of its waste stream through special reactors that transform potentially damaging nutrients into environmentally friendly fertilizer, which Ostara sells commercially.<ref>Renfroe, Don. Clean Water Services to extract nutrients from waste for fertilizer. "[[The Oregonian]]", November 13, 2008.</ref>

As a surface water management utility, The District’sDistrict's Stormwater Management (SWM) program improves water quality, protects fish habitat and manages drainage by operating and maintaining the stormwater conveyance system, establishing design and construction standards, regulating activities that can impact the watershed and enhancing streams and floodplains. Clean Water Services is the regional SWM utility for urban Washington County. In cooperation with Washington County and the 12 member cities Clean Water Services maintains and enhances the public drainage system to meet public needs and to comply with strict water quality regulations set for the Tualatin River drainage area by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).<ref name=cons/>

Clean Water Services offers a classroom educational program called [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20100924184740/http://cleanwaterservices.org/Residents/ToolsAndTips/RiverRangers.aspx River Rangers] geared toward 4th-grade students.<ref>Sherman, Barbara. Durham students learn how to protect Tualatin Watershed. ''Tualatin Times'', December 5, 2005.</ref> Environmental educators interactively teach students about the [[water cycle]], watersheds, surface water pollution, water conservation and wastewater treamenttreatment. The 45-minute presentation is used to educate students about how people impact water quality through use of sewer and storm systems.

As communities in the [http://www.tualatinbasinwatersupply.org/ Tualatin Basin] continue to grow, more water will be needed for municipal and industrial uses.<ref name=watersupply>Gorman, Kathy. Washington County: Water partners wonder how to increase supply. ''[[The Oregonian]]'', June 7, 2007.</ref> In addition, more water is needed to augment flow in the Tualatin River and its tributaries for water quality.<ref>Colby, Richard. Hagg Lake water helps river run. ''[[The Oregonian]]'', July 1, 2004.</ref> The two water supply options being considered assume aggressive conservation targets for homes and businesses, wastewaterwaste[[water reuse]], and aquifer storage and recovery.

* A {{convert|40|ft|m|singadj=on}} dam raise at [[Henry Hagg Lake]] with a raw water pipeline pumpback.

* A multiple source option that includes a {{convert|25|ft|m|singadj=on}} dam raise at Hagg Lake with a raw water pipeline pumpback and expansion of the Willamette River Water Treatment Plant for municipal uses.

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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070617050041/http://www.co.washington.or.us/deptmts/cao/bd_comm/bocmain.htm Washington County Commissioners]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100609111226/http://or.water.usgs.gov/projs_dir/pn356/pn356.html Oregon Water Science Center Active Projects Tualatin River Basin Water Quality Assessment]

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