Editing Seattle Public Utilities

{{infobox government agency
|agency_name   = Seattle Public Utilities
|nativename    =
|nativename_a  =
|nativename_r  =
|logo          = 
|logo_width    = 
|logo_caption  = Seattle Public Utilities
|seal          =
|seal_width    =
|seal_caption  =
|picture       = 
|picture_width =
|picture_caption = 
|formed        = 1997 
|preceding1    = Seattle Engineering and Water Departments
|preceding2    =
|dissolved     = 
|superseding   =
|jurisdiction  = City of Seattle and some outlying communities
|headquarters  = [[Seattle Municipal Tower|Municipal Tower]], 700 Fifth Avenue, [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], [[United States]]
|coordinates   = {{coord|47|36|18.36|N|122|19|47.28|W|type:landmark_region:US|display=inline}}
|employees     =
|budget        = $809 million [[United States dollar|USD]] (2013)<ref>{{cite report|author=Seattle City Budget Office|title=Seattle Public Utilities|url=http://www.seattle.gov/financedepartment/15AdoptedBudget/documents/SPU.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=4 September 2015}}</ref>
|minister1_name  =
|minister1_pfo   =
|minister2_name  =
|minister2_pfo   =
|chief1_name     = Andrew Lee
|chief1_position = General Manager/CEO<ref>{{cite web|title=Director--Seattle Public Utilities|url=http://www.seattle.gov/util/AboutUs/Management/Director/index.htm|accessdate=24 January 2017}}</ref>
|agency_type   = [[Public utility]]
|parent_agency =
|child1_agency =
|child2_agency =
|keydocument1=
|website       = https://www.seattle.gov/utilities
|footnotes     =
}}
[[Image:Seattle water supply intake and wing dam - 1900.jpg|thumb|Water supply intake and wing dam under construction, 1900.]]
[[Image:Completed section of Seattle water supply pipe near Renton - 1900.jpg|thumb|Pipe near [[Renton, Washington]] to bring [[Cedar River (Washington)|Cedar River]] water to Seattle; this 1900 picture shows pipe newly laid.]]
[[File:Cedar River wooden pipe detail 01.jpg|thumb|Closeup view of a section of the wooden pipe that brought Cedar River water to Seattle from 1930 to 1991. Metal bands hold the pipe together. This section is now on display in [[Maple Valley, Washington]].]]

'''Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)''' is a [[public utility]] agency of the city of [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], which provides [[water]], [[sanitary sewer|sewer]], [[drainage]] and [[waste|garbage]] services for 1.3 million people in [[King County, Washington]].<ref>[http://www.seattle.gov/util/services/ Services], Seattle Public Utilities. Accessed online 6 December 2007.</ref> The agency was established in 1997, consolidating the city's Water Department with other city functions.<ref name="Stein" />

==Water supply==

SPU owns two water collection facilities in the [[Cascade Mountains]] that supply drinking water used by 1.6&nbsp;million people in Seattle and surrounding suburbs in 2023.<ref>{{cite web|title=Drinking water quality report|year=2023|publisher=Seattle Public Utilities|url=https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/SPU/Services/Water/Reports/Water%20Quality/2023WaterQualityAnnualReport.pdf|access-date=August 10, 2024}}</ref> The [[Cedar River (Washington)|Cedar River]] watershed comprises 60 percent of the normal supply, and the [[Tolt River]] watershed supplies the remaining 40 percent (primarily north of [[Green Lake (Seattle)|Green Lake]]). The Cedar River supply is unfiltered, while the Tolt River is filtered and relied upon more heavily during dry years.<ref>{{cite news |last=Swanson |first=Conrad |date=February 5, 2024 |title=Seattle's water comes from 2 river systems. Which one do you drink from? |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/seattles-water-comes-from-two-river-systems-which-one-do-you-drink-from/ |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |accessdate=July 25, 2024}}</ref>

From the city's founding through the 1880s, Seattle's water was [[Utilities of Seattle#Early water supply|provided by several private companies]]. In a July 8, 1889, election,<ref name=Stein>Alan J. Stein, [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=2123 Seattle voters authorize Cedar River Water Supply system on July 8, 1889.], HistoryLink, January 1, 2000. Accessed online 6 December 2007.</ref> barely a month after the [[Great Seattle Fire]] (June 6, 1889) gave a dramatic illustration of the limitations of the city's water supply, Seattle's citizens voted 1,875 to 51 to acquire and operate their own water system. In accordance with this vote, the city Water Department acquired the Lake Union and Spring Hill plants for $400,000.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fleming|1919|pp=20–21}}</ref>

This was understood from the first to be only a temporary expedient, inadequate to the expected growth of the city. Attention soon focused on the [[Cedar River (Washington)|Cedar River]],<ref name="Stein" /> an idea first proposed in the 1870s;<ref name=Peterson-117>{{Harvnb|Peterson|Davenport|1950|p=117}}</ref> the question was how to bring that water to the city. From 1892, the responsibility for doing so fell to newly hired City Engineer [[Reginald H. Thomson]] and his assistant [[George F. Cotterill]]. Besides the technical challenges, they and a series of Seattle mayors had to keep the citizenry on board to move forward with this expensive project through the [[Panic of 1893]].<ref name="Stein" />

The [[Klondike Gold Rush]] put Seattle on a sound economic footing.<ref name="Stein" /> The 1901 completion of Cedar River Supply System No. 1 (active from February 21, 1901<ref name=Peterson-117 />) gave the city a steady supply of clean water with an intake {{convert|28|miles}} from the city itself; this was supplemented by Cedar River Supply System No. 2 in 1909. Together, these systems gave the city a supply of more than {{convert|60000000|USgal|kl|0}} of water a day.<ref name=Fleming-21>{{Harvnb|Fleming|1919|p=21}}</ref>

The original Cedar River pipeline was made of reinforced wooden pipe "big enough so a small boy could stand upright in it" and carried {{convert|22500000|USgal|kl|0}} of water a day. By 1950, three big mains carried up to {{convert|162000000|USgal|kl|0}} of water a day.<ref name=Peterson-117 />

To guard against contamination at the source, the city purchased or otherwise gained control of {{convert|142|sqmi|km2}} of land and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health and Sanitation. The city also established an extensive system of [[reservoir]]s within city limits. By 1919, six reservoirs had a combined capacity of {{convert|270000000|USgal|kl|0}}.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fleming|1919|p=21}} says that Seattle "owns or controls" the entire drainage of the Cedar River</ref> In 1950, the city owned "about two-thirds" of the [[drainage basin|watershed]], the federal government "about one-fourth"; the remainder, "around eleven square miles," was owned by private lumber companies.<ref name=Peterson-118>{{Harvnb|Peterson|Davenport|1950|p=118}}</ref>

Seattle has at times contracted to provide water for entities outside of city limits.<ref name=Peterson-123>{{Harvnb|Peterson|Davenport|1950|p=123}}</ref> By 2007, it provided water to 19 municipalities and water districts in King County.<ref>{{cite news |last=Holt |first=Gordy |date=August 22, 2007 |title=Short Trips: Feast your eyes on Seattle's water supply |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/short-trips-feast-your-eyes-on-seattle-s-water-1247226.php |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |accessdate=August 9, 2024}}</ref>

In recent decades, the Seattle Regional Water System has significantly improved conservation. 2008 usage was roughly equal to usage in 1960, despite roughly a 35% increase in population over that period.<ref>[http://www.seattle.gov/util/stellent/groups/public/@spu/@ssw/documents/webcontent/spu01_005056.pdf Drinking Water Quality Report 2008], Seattle Public Utilities. Accessed online 2009-06-05.</ref> From 1990 to 2012 total water usage declined 29%, despite a population increase of 17%.<ref>"More than 100 Years of Water Stewardship: Seattle 2012 Drinking Water Quality Report", p. 3.</ref>

==Garbage management==

SPU operates two waste sorting facilities: the [[North Transfer Station]] in [[Wallingford, Seattle|Wallingford]] and the [[South Transfer Station]] in [[South Park, Seattle|South Park]]. Both facilities were opened in the 1960s and rebuilt in the 2010s to handle greater volumes and include environmentally friendly features.<ref>{{cite news |last=Beekman |first=Daniel |date=December 6, 2016 |title=Nicest dump around? New $108M transfer station in Wallingford even has a basketball court |page=A1 |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/108-million-dump-opens-in-wallingford/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=February 12, 2020}}</ref> Garbage from Seattle is shipped out via train to the Columbia Ridge Landfill near [[Arlington, Oregon]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sccinsight.com/2017/03/27/council-mulls-terms-solid-waste-disposal-contract/|title=Council mulls over terms of solid waste disposal contract|last=Schofield|first=Kevin|date=2017-03-28|website=Seattle City Council Insight|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wmnorthwest.com/landfill/columbiaridge.htm|title=Columbia Ridge Recycling and Landfill|last=|first=|date=|website=Waste Management Northwest|access-date=2020-04-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/methane-from-landfills-to-light-up-seattle/|title=Methane from landfills to light up Seattle|last=Heffter|first=Emily|date=2010-01-21|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-24}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Utilities of Seattle]]
* [[Government and politics of Seattle]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Citation
 | last =Fleming
 | first =S. E.
 | year =1919
 | title =Civics (supplement): Seattle&nbsp;King County
 | place =Seattle
 | publisher =Seattle Public Schools
}}. This is a public domain source, because it was published in the U.S. before 1923.

* {{Citation
 | last =Peterson
 | first =Lorin
 | last2 =Davenport
 | first2 =Noah C.
 | year =1950
 | title =Living in Seattle
 | place =Seattle
 | publisher =Seattle Public Schools
}}.

==External links==
{{commons category|Seattle water supply system}}
*[https://www.seattle.gov/utilities Seattle Public Utilities website]
*[https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/services/water/water-quality/annual-report Seattle Water Quality Annual Reports]

{{Seattle Government}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Government of Seattle]]
[[Category:Recycling industry]]
[[Category:Water companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Waste management companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Public utilities of the United States]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1997]]
[[Category:Public utilities established in 1997]]
[[Category:1997 establishments in Washington (state)]]