Clean Water Services' Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility nets prestigious EPA Award

Hillsboro, OR — January 5, 2007 — Clean Water Services’ Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility in Hillsboro has won top honors from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the 2006 National Clean Water Act Recognition Award for outstanding Operations and Maintenance practices for large facilities with advanced treatment. The Rock Creek Facility received the first place national award after winning a Region 10 EPA award. The regional award will be presented at the January 9, 2007 meeting of the Clean Water Services Board of Directors at 10:00 am at the Washington County Public Service Building, 155 N. First Avenue, in Hillsboro. The award will be presented by EPA officials including Elin Miller, Region 10 Administrator and Socorro Rodriguez, Region 10 Director of Operations.

Each year, EPA recognizes outstanding achievements in the water quality field through its Clean Water Act Recognition Awards. Now in its 20th year, facilities are nominated by regulators and evaluated by specially appointed selection panels. The award winners meet EPA’s rigorous criteria for excellence. This honor was given just a year ago to Clean Water Services’ Durham Treatment Facility in Tigard. Wastewater Department Director Mark Poling said, “We are really proud to earn this recognition for the Rock Creek Facility after our Durham Facility won it last year."

The Rock Creek Facility won the EPA award for outstanding operations and maintenance including an improved process to remove phosphorus from wastewater with a combination of biological, chemical and physical processes. The results of this new process have been a remarkable 85 to 95% removal of soluble phosphorus that has saved Clean Water Services annual operating costs in excess of $100,000. The process has also reduced impact on the environment by reducing the amount of alum added to the wastewater, thereby reducing aluminum and its salts into the biosolids, and lower dissolved solids in the cleaned wastewater.

The Rock Creek Facility, located at 3235 S.W. River Road near Hillsboro High School, provides wastewater treatment for the City of Hillsboro, portions of the City of Beaverton, Aloha, and unincorporated Washington County. The facility provides advanced or tertiary treatment, exceeding the treatment level of 98 percent of wastewater facilities in the United States. Through innovative advanced technology and processes, wastewater from homes and businesses is cleaned and returned to the Tualatin River, providing vital clean water that improves river flow, habitat and water quality.

Clean Water Services is a water resource management utility for more than 490,000 people in urban Washington County and small portions of Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Lake Oswego, and Portland. Clean Water Services operates four wastewater treatment facilities, constructs and maintains flood management and water quality projects, and manages flow in the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat. Although Clean Water Services maintains a close working relationship with Washington County government, it is a separately managed and financed public utility.

Facts about the Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility

Size of service area: 57 square miles

Number of people served: approximately 215,000

Treatment volumes in million gallons per day (mgd):
Average flow is 39 mgd
Peak flow is 150 mgd

Maximum winter treatment capacity is 150 mgd and summer capacity is 55 mgd

Construction history:
1978 - Facility began operation
1989 - Added 17 mgd of nitrogen nutrient removal capacity
1993 - Added 20 mgd phosphorus nutrient removal capacity
1995 - Added anaerobic digesters, a dewatering building and four belt presses to handle additional solids
2002 - Replaced old primary clarifiers with covered clarifiers, adding 40 mgd of treatment capacity
2003 - New raw sewage pumps, improved odor control equipment, added aeration basin/secondary clarifier and new head works
2005 - Expanded tertiary gravity filtration system

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