Don Perry

Although the calendar tells me otherwise, it doesn’t seem that it was that many years ago that I was hired as the District’s General Manager.  As an engineer with a background in water and sewer systems, one of the first tasks I tackled when I arrived at Lakehaven was to familiarize myself with the vast infrastructure that provides the services that we all rely on.  In addition to getting a sense of what systems were in place, I was interested in evaluating where we could improve the systems and was pleased to find a Board of Commissioners similarly interested in the improvements we could make.

Over the course of my tenure as General Manager, we have made many upgrades that will benefit the District and its customers for many years to come.  Some of the more notable items are:

• After long discussions about water supply, we were finally able to execute a contract with Tacoma and our South King County Partners for the Second Supply Project.  Now complete, the Project has increased the District’s available water supply from ten million gallons per day to twenty million gallons per day.
• To deal with conditions associated with blending surface and ground water supplies, we installed filtration, chlorine, and pH treatment facilities to control iron and manganese problems from the groundwater sources and to ensure that the drinking water continues to meet and exceed the most stringent clean drinking water regulations in place.
• The District has long been interested in storing water underground for later use when other sources are less available.  In order to facilitate storage and recovery of water, it was necessary to have state law changed to recognize water rights in the stored water.  The District was successful in obtaining the necessary legislation and has since been granted a permit that will allow the District to pursue water storage and recovery in the future.
• We have implemented a program to place emergency generators at well and sewer pump station sites.  This has greatly improved our ability to deliver uninterrupted water and sewer service during power outages.
• The District has diverted a large number of sewer customers previously served by Tacoma and Pierce County treatment plants to our Lakota Treatment Plant.  This has resulted in a large reduction in the cost of serving these customers.
• Several years ago we added UV disinfection systems to both the Lakota and Redondo Wastewater Plants.  UV disinfection replaces the chlorine systems that were being used to disinfect the wastewater effluent before it leaves the plants to flow into the Puget Sound.  The elimination of chlorine in the effluent is considered beneficial to the local marine environment.

The items I have listed represent just a few of the accomplishments at the District and there is much work left to be done.  This could not have been accomplished without the dedicated Board, staff, and the support of our customers.

I thank you from all of us at Lakehaven Utility District and wish you the very best.  It has been a pleasure to serve you.

MEET THE NEW GENERAL MANAGER

The Lakehaven Utility District Board of Commissioners and staff wish to thank Don Perry for his many years of service to the district.

The Board of Commissioners is pleased to announce its promotion of John Bowman to succeed Don Perry as the District’s General Manager.

John will officially begin his duties in the new position following Don Perry’s retirement at the end of April. John was raised in Federal Way and attended Kennedy High School in Burien.  Following high school, John completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Washington.  He has been employed at the District since 1990 and has spent time as a water system engineer and, more recently, as Director of Engineering.  John has been extensively involved in water system planning and the development of the Second Supply Pipeline Project throughout his career at the District.

Congratulations John!