The Yakima Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant has been recognized by the Washington State Department of Ecology (“DOE”) for having achieved full compliance with all clean water requirements during 2017.
DOE presented the Wastewater Treatment Plant Outstanding Performance Award during the Yakima City Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, October 2nd.
“Yakima is well served by dedicated employees who made this award possible,” said City of Yakima Public Works Director Scott Schafer. “Their efforts are commendable and much appreciated.”
The City of Yakima-owned plant processes wastewater from homes, businesses, and industrial facilities in Yakima, Union Gap, Terrace Heights, and Moxee.
This is the seventh time the Yakima plant has won the award, which signifies the Yakima plant had perfect compliance with strict federal standards that ensure waterways are not being polluted. The federal standards are enforced by the DOE.
The Yakima Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant processes wastewater through multiple stages including grit removal, clarifiers, digesters, aeration basins, and ultraviolet disinfection. Once the water has been treated to meet the federal standards, it is returned to the Yakima River.
“Washington’s growing population creates a greater need for wastewater treatment every day. Talented and proficient plant operators are critical to meeting this challenge and ensuring successful plant operations that protect the health of Washington’s waters,” said DOE Water Quality Program Manager Heather Bartlett.
DOE’s Wastewater Treatment Plant Outstanding Performance Award program was created in 1995 as an incentive for facilities to work toward full compliance with federal standards, which are part of the Clean Water Act. In the award program’s first year, only 14 of the wastewater treatment plants in Washington State achieved perfect compliance. In 2017, about a third of the plants (111) met the mark.
To receive the DOE’s Wastewater Treatment Plant Outstanding Performance Award, a facility must be in full compliance with effluent (water discharged into the river) limits, monitoring and reporting requirements, spill prevention planning, pretreatment standards, and overall operational demands of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit for an entire year.
Visit https://www.yakimawa.gov/services/wastewater-treatment-plant/ for more about the Yakima Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant.