Geoff Clayton opened the meeting by pointing out that a dependable water supply is central to our rural area. Most of the county rural areas are on septic systems and those systems need to be recognized, maintained and used wisely.
Debbie Rannfeldt, public communication co-coordinator for Woodinville Water District spoke on their relationship with Seattle Public Utilities and the programs offered as benefit to all customers. Woodinville is on e of 21 SEATTLE Public Utilities customers.
In addition, Woodinville has a well back up for water in an extreme emergency. Woodinville is a participant in the Saving Water Alliance. There are seven “Street of Dreams” developments within the Woodinville Water District with extensive landscaping; landscaping that often is given 3-4 times as much water in the summer as in the winter. An average May day sees 150 m gallons water used in the system. Education/outreach programs of the District have resulted in a 10% reduction of water usage while experiencing a 25% increase in numbers of homes since 1991. The 2004 FREE SPRING GARDEN FAIR, sponsored by Water District in partnership with Northshore Utility District and the City of Woodinville will be held at Woodmoor Elementary School Saturday, April 17th from 9 AM til 3PM. It offers 15 seminars to choose from, well known guest speaker/authors and book signing, many family activities and information booths, something for everyone! Water barrels and compost bins will be for sale by the City of Woodinville. Flyers available at Woodinville and Kingsgate libraries.
Michelle Britt, King County Health Dept. spoke on the operation and maintenance of septic systems.
Rules and regulations regarding septic systems are revised about every 7 years. Because most build able land in rural King County has been built upon, alternate ways of treating home sewage are being invented for lots that have difficulty “perking”, thus eliminating the standard gravity system. “Mound, Sand Filter, ATU (aerobic treatment units) were mentioned, each requiring a different schedule of maintenance. The County encourages each homeowner to know what system they have, where it is located and what the required maintenance schedule should be. Normally, gravity flow systems should be pumped every 3 years; some ATU’s require pumping every 3 months. The Health Dept can enforce its rules and regulations only when sewage is present on the surface of the ground. There are 120 thousand septic systems in King County. The Health Dept has “as built” plans on homes/lots built since 1991, older than that are on microfische and hard to access. She showed us a form that should be used each time a home on septic changes hands, telling the new owners what type of system the have and where it is located.
Location and questions on anyone’s septic system is Public Knowledge and can be obtained through the County. Another form “Operation/Performance Monitoring Report” is supposed to be used by all new property owners. Logically, all Realtors would be responsible for acquainting new owners with both forms as well as the list of “Certified On Site System Maintainers (OSM) also available through the county. There was a question regarding how active Utility Districts should be in knowing where peoples septic systems are and how well they are maintained, especially collective systems as found at Brook Trails County Club, and how well treated/clean the water is that returns to the ground.
King County Health Dept can be reached on the internet at www.metrokc.gov/health/wastewater/ or call Michelle at 206-296-4932

Meeting adjourned at 9:10. Next public forum March 23rd at the Water District. (Brightwater)