Crossposted from Clean Water Stories

Aaron Squires stands at the edge of a maintenance hole in Redmond, pulling on a pair of waders. A King County truck sits nearby, with cones marking the work zone and cables running down into the opening below. Squires is part of the King County Wastewater Treatment Division’s 15-member conveyance inspection team, responsible for maintaining and surveying the pipes that spans across our service area. 

Below the surface, more than 380 miles of County-owned pipe carry wastewater from homes and businesses to treatment plants. Known as the conveyance system, this network stretches far beyond what most people ever see. If laid end to end, it would run from Seattle to just shy of the California border. Read more.