As an agency responsible to provide safe and clean drinking water to a population in excess of one hundred thousand residential customers, along with a diverse and growing business community, the District has long been focused on the issues associated with water quality. New regulations aimed at protecting the drinking water supply, along with the constantly evolving technologies that make compliance with these regulations possible, have certainly changed the way water is delivered to your homes and business over the years. Even though these changes have also significantly increased the cost of providing water service, the District is one of the lowest cost providers of water in the region.
Along with our efforts to provide quality drinking water, we are also focusing planning, energy, and financial resources on the impact of effluents from our treatment plants on the marine environment. Both the Redondo and Lakota Wastewater Treatment Plants discharge treated wastewater effluent to Puget Sound marine waters.
The wastewater treatment system begins at the point of connection of homes and businesses to the District’s sanitary sewer system. Once the wastewater has been transported to the wastewater treatment plants and completes the biological processes of secondary treatment, the treated wastewater, or effluent, is disinfected with ultraviolet light and discharged into the Sound through outfall pipes. In the case of the Lakota plant, the point of discharge is located approximately twenty seven hundred (2,700) feet off the shoreline adjacent to the plant at a depth of one hundred eighty four (184) feet below low tide level. Discharge from the Redondo outfall is located one thousand twenty three (1,023) feet off shore at a depth of one hundred twenty three (123) feet.
Due in large part to concerns over shellfish populations in local shellfish harvest areas, the District has been involved in planning for the extension of the Redondo outfall pipe for a number of years. This April, the Board awarded a contract for the extension of the Redondo outfall approximately thirteen hundred feet. The project, the entire cost of which is expected to be in the range of three to four million dollars, will move the point of discharge to a depth of four hundred (400) feet below sea level. This will increase the dilution of the effluent and further minimize any impact that the effluent will have on water quality in the tidal areas. When completed in August, it is expected that shellfish beds in the vicinity of the plant will be opened for shellfish harvest in the near future.
The District is also studying the extension of the Lakota outfall. Currently, the District is participating in a feasibility study being funded by the Puget Sound Partnership, an agency formed to address water quality issues in the inland marine areas. The plan should be completed by the first quarter of next year. No decisions on whether to extend the outfall will be made until the study is in and all the information is available.
Having a professional and educational background in marine science, I have a deep interest in the way the effluent from our treatment facilities impacts Puget Sound water quality and, along with the rest of the Board, am very committed to making the District a partner for a healthy Puget Sound!

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CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT

Lakehaven Utility District will soon be mailing a copy of our 2007 Water Quality Report to all water account customers. This “Consumer Confidence Report” is a federal requirement and was created by Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency under the 1996 reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act. By July 1 of each year, all water utilities throughout the United States are required to provide an annual report to their customers on the quality of their drinking water as monitored during the previous operational calendar year. Consumer Confidence Reports help the public learn more about their drinking water and the level at which it meets state and federal drinking water standards, and if not, why not. The report details where the water comes from, what it contains, and the risks that water quality monitoring and testing are designed to prevent. Lakehaven Utility District is pleased to report that our drinking water met all state and federal drinking water standards during the 2007 calendar year. Much of the information in our water quality report is detailed, as required by law, but we have made an effort to keep it clear, useful and readable for those with whom we are pleased to share this information. Be watching for it in the mail.

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DISTRICT TO IMPLEMENT CAPACITY RENT PROGRAM

In order to ensure that customers pay their fair share of the costs of development of the water and sewer system infrastructure, the District has established a program that will allocate to commercial customers (i.e. non-single family residential property owners) a rental charge for the use of excess water and sewer system capacity. The use of excess capacity will be determined by comparing records that reflect the level of water and sewer system capacity owned by a property against water meter readings that show the quantity of water consumed at the property during a billing period. System capacity, which is divided into shares referred to as Equivalent Residential Units (“ERU’s), is acquired through the payment of Capital Facilities Charges, typically at the time of connection.

Under the rental program, the District will collect 1% of the cost of an ERU of water and/or sewer service for each ERU of excess capacity used during the two month billing period. To recognize that ERU’s reflect an “averaging” of demand, the Board has included a peaking factor that significantly increased the excess capacity threshold for each system, which correspondingly reduces the amount of rent burden on customers. With an ERU costing approximately $3,000, the rent for an ERU will be $15 per month.
The capacity rental program will begin in 2009. The current water/sewer bill for customers subject to the rental program shows the amount of capacity rent, if any, that would be generated next year based upon consumption in the current billing period. This information can be used to gauge the rent potential from current system usage levels. Customers are free to come in to Development Services and purchase additional capacity in the system to avoid, or limit, future system rent obligations. Water conservation will also lower, or eliminate, rent burden on both the water and sewer side of the bill and is encouraged. If you have questions, please call Morgan Dennis, at 253-945-1615.

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WATER LINE CHANGES

Homeowners who want to replace their service line from the water meter setter should proceed as follows:

1. Check ease of operation of isolation valve at meter.
2. Call for locates. This is a free service usually done within 48 hrs.
3. After locates are complete, excavate trench from back of meter to house.
4. Make sure you have excavated to the bottom of meter setter typically 12 “.
5. Verify size of connection (typically ¾” to 1” iron pipe size.)
6. With meter setter turned off, carefully remove old service line from back of setter.
7. If a shut off is accessible at house, shut this one off too.
8. If you don’t have a shut off at the house, this is the time to install one.
9. Carefully connect new service to back of setter, flush line, and then connect to house.
10. Turn meter back on; flush again through nearest hose bib.
11. Close hose bib and check for leaks.
12. Back fill trench and compact.

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KIDS CORNER - Water & Your Garden

It’s fun to work in your yard! Help your mom and dad with the lawn and garden. Tell them to use a mulch to help retain water and reduce weeds.

Regular Board of Commissioners meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month.
These meetings are held at the Lakehaven Center at:

Lakehaven Center
31531 First Ave. S.
Federal Way at 6 p.m.