Wastewater treatment plants awarded for top performance

OLYMPIA  – 

Washington has more than 300 wastewater treatment plants, and each one needs certified operators to keep these facilities running smoothly — and to ensure they protect water quality and public health.

The Washington Department of Ecology is recognizing 121 wastewater facilities and their operators with the agency’s annual Outstanding Performance Awards.

These operators achieved excellent compliance with their routine water quality monitoring and reporting requirements, and in meeting water quality permit limits.

The award is recognition of the hard day-to-day work that wastewater operators perform.

What do wastewater treatment plant operators do?

Operators work to treat the wastewater that leaves industries, businesses, and homes. This work helps prevent different types of pollution from reaching local waterways.

Jon Kenning, who leads Ecology’s Water Quality program, highlighted the vital services that wastewater treatment plant operators provide for communities.

“Wastewater infrastructure is something many of us don’t think about, while operators are thinking about it every day,” Kenning said. “Wastewater treatment operators help ensure clean water for our communities and the environment. Their work often goes unseen, but it benefits everyone in our state.”

These facility operators make sure wastewater is clean enough to be released to water bodies such as local rivers or Puget Sound. Ecology uses wastewater permits to ensure that wastewater treatment facilities are properly designed, operated, and maintained to meet end-of-pipe discharge limits. These limits protect communities from bacteria, viruses, and other pollutants that can harm human health and the environment. 

While every facility is location specific and structurally different, they all depend on trained and certified operators to keep things running safely and smoothly.

How outstanding facilities are chosen

Ecology selects wastewater treatment plants for the Outstanding Performance Award based on meeting specific permit conditions, including:

• Regularly meeting numeric effluent limits
• Monitoring water quality, as required
• Submitting reports on time

Award recipients receive a plaque and certificate to show off their excellence and continued commitment to keeping Washington's lakes, rivers, and streams clean.

2024 award highlights

Four plants earned the award for the first time:

• Edison Wastewater Treatment Plant, Skagit County
• Badger Lake Estates, Spokane County
• Sun Village Resort, Grant County
• Waitts Lake Sewer System, Stevens County

Six plants have received this award 15 or more years in a row, showing long-term excellence:

• Newhalem Wastewater Treatment Plant (16^th), Whatcom County
• Wishram Wastewater Treatment Plant (16^th), Klickitat County
• Klickitat Wastewater Treatment Plant (17^th), Klickitat County
• Salmon Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (18^th), Clark County
• Lyle Wastewater Treatment Plant (19^th), Klickitat County
• Port Townsend Wastewater Treatment Facility (27^th), Jefferson County

See the full list of award-winning facilities on our operator certification webpage.

What this recognition means

We talked to employees at several outstanding wastewater facilities to get a better sense of what this award means to them. 

Vashon Wastewater Treatment Plant

“Outstanding performance; these awards are a bar set, a legacy maintained, and an expression of environmental stewardship,” said Liz Corliss, the senior operator in charge. “Phew! Another year of dedication to the health and wellness of the community, and its surrounding waterways.”

Manchester and Kingston wastewater treatment plants

“Our success is because of the hard work and dedication of the operations staff,” said Kenneth Young plant operator supervisor for the Manchester and Kingston wastewater treatment plants. “They truly care about the environment and strive to keep our waterways clean and safe.”

City of Snohomish Wastewater Treatment Plant

“It means a great deal to all of us, it’s a reflection of the hard work and dedication we put in every day to stay in compliance and protect our environment,” said operator Duane Leach. “As a team — [myself], Frank Schorsch, and Karen Allen — we take pride in running a plant that serves our community responsibly and consistently. This recognition encourages us to keep striving for excellence in everything we do.”

City of Duvall Wastewater Treatment Plant

"We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our community in creating clean water that is discharged to our local waterways and pride ourselves on meeting the stringent standards that we are held to by Department of Ecology," said Seth Harrison, wastewater operations manager for the City of Duvall Wastewater Treatment Plant. "It's an honor to be acknowledged for excelling in our duties, and we are proud to represent the City of Duvall."

Kitsap County Public Works

“Our Sewer Utility Team operates at the highest standard to ensure we have met our regulatory requirements in a safe, reliable, and efficient manner,” said Matt Pickering, an operations manager. “Receiving an Outstanding Treatment Award recognizes the dedication our team puts into our mission every day.”

Water and Wastewater Services (operates multiple treatment plants statewide)

“This recognition is a testament to our team's unwavering commitment to protecting public health and the environment,” added Kevin Wynn, owner of Water and Wastewater Services. “At the heart of everything we do is our community — ensuring clean water today and a sustainable future for generations to come.” 

City of Everson Wastewater Treatment Plant

“The award became our goal and with the help of all the operations staff, we have been able to achieve it for multiple years,” said Jared Witman, water and sewer superintendent. “Having a goal to strive for allows our team to apply our education, experience, and flat-out hard work to help the environment and health/safety of the public. We consider it an honor to be tasked with this responsibility and believe the reward truly comes in the day-to-day.”

Carnation Farms

"Carnation Farms is pleased to win another award from Washington State Department of Ecology and showing appreciation for operators that are dedicated no matter the conditions," said Ken Kosters of Carnation Farms. "The small, extended aeration activated sludge plant has been in operation [since] 1975 and with maintenance and upgrades produces Class B reclaimed water that is stored during the wet season. When soil is dry, the stored reclaimed water is used to irrigate certified organic regenerative farm land that produces fodder for livestock. Not only is the wastewater treated, but [it's]reclaimed and reused, protecting the waters of Washington state."

Become a wastewater treatment plant operator

Washington needs more wastewater treatment plant operators! If you have experience as a welder, mechanic, lab tech, engineer, have similar work experience, or have worked at a similar facility, this could be a good career path for you!

To learn more, visit Ecology’s Wastewater Operator Certification Program page.