Awet Tsegay

It all started with concerned citizens working together to provide, protect and plan for the water vital to our community. This continues today. The Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District (District) was formed as King County Water District 82 in 1948 by 35 residents living near Pine Lake. Originally the District operated from Oscar Freed’s kitchen, our first Commissioner who served for 30 years. Later the facilities moved to a trailer, then to a garage before moving to our current facility at the intersection of 228th Avenue SE and SE 16th Street. After more than 60 years, and as our service area grew through annexations and mergers, we now serve an area of 29 square miles and provide clean, reliable drinking water to over 63,000 residents. The District completed its first sewer plan in 1970 and currently provides sewer service to over 46,000 people. As the District has grown and evolved, we saw it as an opportunity to reflect on who we are to our customers and what’s most important to you. The results of our outreach concluded that clean, fresh water was at the top of everyone’s mind. We provide this treasured resource to your home or business all day, every day while also removing and transporting wastewater to a treatment facility operated by King County Metro. Both services are vital to the health and safety of our families and communities. Both services involve delivery and transport of water. The responsibility and expertise to accomplish this is significant. The need to manage services today and plan for the future is even more essential than you might find for many other public services. For this reason, the District’s focus is solely water and sewer service. Now you know why. We began planning in 1948 for the water you drink today. We are one of a small number of public utilities that plans this far into the future. That planning and protecting has been going on every day since and will continue for generations.