In This Issue
• Dig up the graveyard in your garage

• Sanitation greatest medical milestone

• Vehicle fleet 'walks' its talk

Did you know?
Of the 37 major diseases in developing
countries, 21 are water and sanitation
related.

Who we are
Clean Water Services is a wastewater and stormwater utility committed to protecting water resources in the Tualatin River Watershed.

Dig up the graveyard in your garage

Storing a propane tank from your millennium New Year's barbeque? Waiting for the revival of your old Tang-orange paint? If so, remove these unused hazardous items and gain some storage space around your home. Most importantly, prevent these harmful chemicals from entering our waterways.

Welcome your Toyota back to the garage and take any household hazardous waste to a safe resting place at one of Metro's FREE household hazardous waste collection events. They take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every week (except Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends) between early March and mid-November in many communities across the Portland tri-county area.

For more information including a list of other hazardous items, call Metro Recycling Information at (503) 234-3000 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

2007 Washington County Spring collection events:

• March 10
  Forest Grove Transfer Station, 1525 B St., Forest Grove
• April 13-14
  Century High School, 2000 SW Century Blvd., Hillsboro
• April 20-21
  Intel Ronler Acres Campus, 2501 NW 229th Ave., Hillsboro
• May 4-5
  Sherwood High School, 1155 SW Meinecke Rd., Sherwood
• May 17-19
  Beaverton Christian Church, 13660 SW Allen Blvd., Beaverton
• June 21-23
  Meadow Park Middle School, 14100 SW Downing St., Beaverton

Sanitation greatest medical milestone

Residents sleep better at night knowing their wastewater is 'treated' like a king. According to a poll of more than 11,000 people, sanitation is the greatest medical milestone since 1840.

The British Medical Journal asked people to vote for the most important breakthrough of the last two centuries after leading scientists picked 16 medical advances for a shortlist.

Clean water and sewers were chosen by 1,795 people who voted online across the world.

Antibiotics were seen as the second-most important with 1,642 votes, while anesthesia was third.

Vehicle fleet 'walks' its talk

Clean water and a healthy environment are everyone's right and everyone's responsibility—including ours. Last month, Clean Water Services went the extra mile and converted all of its 74 diesel powered vehicles and equipment to B-5 Biodiesel in a pilot effort to reduce harmful emissions. The B-5 mixture contains 5% Biodiesel and 95% conventional diesel. The 74 diesel vehicles are part of the District’s 128 vehicle fleet that performs valuable wastewater and stormwater services such as street sweeping, erosion and source control investigations, and maintenance of storm sewers and pipelines.

Although greater emission reduction occurs at higher concentrations of Biodiesel, the District is using B-5 as part of its testing phase. The District will evaluate its Biodiesel program after six months in order to monitor performance, fuel mileage and engine oil samples. At that time, converting to a higher blend such as B-20 (20% Biodiesel and 80% conventional diesel) will be considered.

“We’re doing the right thing,” commented Dane Smith, Fleet Coordinator. “We’re moving ahead, but with caution in order to keep our fleet dependable and running efficiently for our ratepayers every day.”

In addition to the Biodiesel conversion, the District purchased three Ford Escape gas electric hybrids which have exhibited almost a 50 percent increase in fuel and emissions savings over the midsize vehicles they replaced. Last month, the District converted a new Chevrolet Colorado pickup to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). CNG is made by compressing methane extracted from natural gas. To increase energy savings, batteries and power inverters were installed to run new TV inspection and construction equipment in place of gas and diesel powered generators. Learn more...