Infrastructure and North City Water District

North City Water District
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

From North City Water District

A recent video (The Ugly Truth: Infrastructure Investment) produced by the Association of Washington Cities, with support from the Washington Public Utility Districts Association (WPUDA) and the Washington Association of Sewer and Water Districts (WASWD, of which North City Water District is a member), has painted a sobering picture of infrastructure in Washington State.

The short story? Washington state is going to need a whopping $9.8 billion to upgrade drinking water systems over the next 20 years. And that figure doesn’t even begin to address failing sewer, streets, and bridge infrastructure.

How Does North City Water District’s infrastructure compare? 

Those of you who are customers of North City Water District, take heart: your infrastructure is in far better shape than the rest of the state. 

Not only was your entire water system upgraded in the mid 1960s, the District is on schedule to complete our 10 year Capital Improvement Program next year—a full 6 years ahead of schedule. 

Projects completed in this Program over the last three years account for over $17 million in improvements to the water system, including several novel public private partnerships that saved our ratepayers over $500,000. Specific projects include (click on the links to learn more about each one): 

• Telemetry System / SCADA upgrade
• 3.7 MG reservoir upgrade (and exterior painting)
• New high efficiency water meters throughout our District
• Administration building upgrade and expansion
• Property purchased for a new maintenance facility

In addition to these completed projects, we will be looking at a number of proposed projects over the next year, with the goal of reinvesting your money in the most wise and efficient manner possible to maintain the water system’s viability long term.

Upcoming projects include upgrades to our pressure reducing stations, installing individual pressure reducing valves in the Ridgecrest neighborhood, and partnering with the City of Lake Forest Park as a method to reduce the cost of the upcoming NE 178th Street project.

We’ll also be constructing a new pump station (the final project at our North City Reservoir site), replacing several water mains, and we’ll begin the design of our new maintenance facility (to replace our currently undersized and outdated facility).

And this is all in addition to regularly inspecting, maintaining, and monitoring your water quality throughout the year.

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North City Water attributes their status to being a Special Purpose District. Read more on their website.