Wet, Wild, and Dirty

Wastewater Treatment Portfolio Assignment

1. Review Chapter 11 in your textbook. You will be comparing the technical design aspects of a generic system with those used at a King County facility
2. Go to the following website: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/
3. Click on: Return to main page.
4. Click on: Interactive tour of the West Point Plant. The West Point plant is next to Discovery Park in Seattle. Go through the tour (all college computers have flash.) Study the associated text carefully. Return to main page.
5. View: Facts at a Glance about our system. Compare the three systems used by King County.
6. Answer the following:
1. Directly compare the textbook waste water treatment plant (WWTP) to the West Point WWTP. What stages of treatment do they share? Does the West Point facility have a greater level of treatment or lower level compared with the text WWTP?
2. Would the author of the text find West Point to be a modern, effective plant? Using your knowledge, do you think West Point is an effective plant? Why?
3. Is there any information on the website that describes how plant operators test the success of water treatment? Are specific measures of water quality used? Is there published data? What does the data reveal?
4. Reflect on the expense of construction and operational costs of a WWTP like West Point. Also reflect on the need for communities worldwide to have effective waste treatment. Is it likely that clean water and environmental protection are equal among wealthy and poor countries? Explain.
5. How can developing countries have clean water that they can afford? (You may have to do some additional research. There are several web resources available through a Google search.)