Pump Station Project Increases System Capacity

Sept. 28, 2010

Kirkland, WA— A newly completed replacement for King County's Juanita Bay Pump Station will increase sewer system capacity while providing neighbors with a well-designed facility that can better control noise and odors.

Kirkland, WA— A newly completed replacement for King County's Juanita Bay Pump Station will increase sewer system capacity while providing neighbors with a well-designed facility that can better control noise and odors.

In 2005, county contractors began construction on the $19-million project to replace a 40-year-old aging pump station that could no longer meet growing service demands. Mid-Mountain Contractors served as general contractor. The consultant engineering design team was led by Brown and Caldwell and includes HDR, Shannon & Wilson, and GCH landscape architects.

The work included installing four 8.65-mgd variable-speed, two-stage pumping units; a 2,000-kilowatt diesel generator; an 8-foot-diameter carbon air scrubber; chemical storage and feed systems; HVAC, electrical and equipment control systems; final site improvements; a storm drainage system; a 60-inch-diameter influent sewer; manhole; and force main connections.

Major subcontractors for the Juanita Bay Pump Station project were Condon-Johnson & Associates, secant piling; Frank Coluccio Construction, microtunneling; J.P. Francis & Associates Inc., mechanical; Miller Sheetmetal Inc., HVAC; and Valley Electric Co., electrical.

The new pump station, which began operating in January after contractors completed connections to the existing wastewater system, carries wastewater from the Juanita area eastward through two pipes to the main conveyance pipe that follows the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway to the county's South Treatment Plant in Renton. Located at the intersection of Northeast Juanita Drive and 93rd Avenue Northeast in Kirkland, it will provide safe and reliable operation by more than doubling pumping capacity to 30.6 mgd.

In addition to a larger facility that includes three underground levels of pumping and electrical equipment, notable improvements that will help make the facility a good neighbor include:

  • Modern, reliable odor-control systems;
  • Noise reduction design;
  • Residentially oriented architectural design and landscaping.