RENTON, Wash. — For 50 years, the Eastside Interceptor has been doing its job underground, humbly and without praise as it carries east King County's wastewater from homes and businesses to the South Treatment Plant in Renton.
But after 50 years, a 3,700-foot stretch of that pipe needs a makeover. The pipe is corroding. Instead of replacing the whole thing, crews are taking steps to install a new liner.
To do this, the pipe needs to be free of sewage. Crews have installed a temporary, above-ground bypass line to pump wastewater where it needs to go. Herein lies the potential for stench. The county, however, says it has a plan -- portable activated carbon scrubbers.
"Air is vacuumed from the sewer line and forced through activated carbon granules within the portable units, which removes odorous compounds," said Norm Mah, communications director with the King County Water Treatment Division.
Think of this process like that disposable water filter in your refrigerator, except the water is odor from sewage.
The bypass process should begin sometime this week and is set to last for six to eight months. By giving the main sewer a liner, it should extend the pipe's life for another 50 years.
Other things to note as this project gets underway are the bike lanes on Logan avenue, from North Sixth Street to Garden Avenue, are closed and that you can expect intermittent lane closures up and down Logan.
For anyone who has questions about the project or complaints about odor, Mah says to contact David Freed at 206-263-9453 or email him at david.freed@kingcounty.gov.
Read more about the project here.