Sammamish Plateau Water & Sewer district celebrates 60th birthday

Sixty years ago, the well at the farmstead of Plateau resident Oscar Freed dried up. Rather than continuing to haul water from nearby Pine Lake, Freed and other residents decided to start a water district.

Water District No. 82 was born. After decades of growth and changes, the district is now known as the Sammamish Plateau Water & Sewer District. The district turns 60 this year, and officials have invited the community to a birthday party from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

With only 35 customers at its inception, the district grew to serve 1,000 customers in 1977, 5,000 by 1987 and about 15,700 water customers in about 29 square miles today, according to old district newsletters. In 1970, the district added sewer service, and now has about 9,300 sewer customers. Through the years, about 45 commissioners have served the district on various boards.

The special purpose district’s first two wells were near Pine Lake, on property the district still owns. Iron and manganese were problems at those wells, so the water had to be pumped into tanks and allowed to settle before it was used, said Ron Little, who has been general manager of the district for the past 21 years. When the district merged with Water District 121, officials abandoned the original wells in favor of two wells near Beaver Lake. The district now has 13 wells, Little said, ranging from “shallow” at 200 feet or less to deeper wells that reach 1,000 feet. Some are more productive than others, and some have distinct challenges, such as high levels of precipitants that cause a sulfurous smell.

A new water treatment facility, currently under construction on Main Street, will help workers control the smell and other qualities of water delivered to customers. The facility is expected to be up and running in a few weeks, at which point staff members will conduct a flushing program, Little said.

Perhaps the most recognizable “face” of the water district is the painted water storage facilities, such as the one at the district headquarters on 228th Avenue Southeast. The murals were designed by Donna Henning, and, in all, the towers hold 22.9 million gallons. Stored water is for use on peak demand days, or in case of a fire or other emergencies.

The district began offering sewer service — initially because officials were asked by a developer to take over service of a six-inch sewer line from the Pine Lake area down to Sammamish State Park, where it connected to a regional line. A proposed tax to pay for the new sewer service proved very unpopular, and the commissioners at the time were recalled, Little said. The new group adopted the concept that growth should pay for growth, and established connection fees.

Sewer connections and maintenance cost an estimated three times as much as water service, Little said.

“For sewers to be economical, you’ve got to have density,” he said. And so, when the Klahanie and Providence Point developments were proposed, district officials worked with the developers to leverage the installment of a 20-inch sewer pipe (the developers had planned to put in a 12-inch pipe, so the district paid an estimated $100,000 for a larger pipe, which had capacity for 8,000 customers). That pipe provided plenty of capacity until several years ago, Little said, when the district paid to put in a parallel 20-inch pipe.

The district joined the Cascade Water Alliance as a founding member, a move that spared the district millions it would have needed to pay for a connection to Seattle water independently.

“By joining Cascade right away, we saved $13 million right off the bat,” Little said.

The district saves money, however, by taking less than 5 percent of its total water supply from Cascade.

“Regional water is much more expensive than pumping our wells,” he explained.

Another move that district officials are proud of is their Aquifer Storage and Recharge program, which involves pumping water back into the ground.

“We’ve been able to raise the water levels back up to where it was before we started,” Little said. “It helps us out with the reliability of the water supply.”

One question that district commissioners will have to answer in coming years is how to meet the county’s demand that half of the Plateau’s sewage flow south to Renton and half north to the new Brightwater Treatment Plant. They have begun looking at possibilities for running a pipe along Eastlake Sammamish Parkway and the trail.

Little also is excited about the district’s new computerized maintenance program, which will enable them to more closely track how long pipes and other important parts of their system last. That’s important because the some portions of the district’s facilities are beginning to age, such as its water meters, which had an estimated life span of 20 years and suddenly needed replacing.

“We’re metamorphizing from ‘Build, build, build’ to maintain and repair,” Little said.

It’s a party

Community members are invited to the district’s 60th birthday celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at the district office, 1510 228th Ave. S.E. The celebration will include cake, free water conservation items and the chance to talk with staff and commissioners, and look through scrapbooks and historical information about the district.

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