In 2004, Clean Water Services (CWS) worked with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to create the nation’s first integrated watershed-based National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. In 2009, we installed the nation’s first commercial nutrient recovery facility at our Durham Water Resource Recovery Facility, in partnership with Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies in Canada.
Firsts like these — achieved through national and international partnerships — are the result of the Tualatin River’s demands. Decades of protecting public health and the environment in the uniquely sensitive Tualatin River Watershed have shaped CWS into a leader the water sector looks to for innovative, cost-effective, and pragmatic solutions to water resources challenges. The Environmental Protection Agency even uses our NPDES permit as a case study.
Operating a wastewater and stormwater utility is complex and getting more so year over year. Increasingly strict environmental regulations, changing climate conditions, resource recovery innovations, and workforce shifts impact the day-to-day work as well as long-range planning. Addressing these complexities and challenges requires connection across the water sector, which is why CWS is active in groups like the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, the Water Environment Federation, and the International Water Association.
Through technical papers, at conferences, and via demonstration projects, the water sector depends on CWS sharing what our watershed has taught us. Travel for national and international collaboration also means CWS leaders can bring home best practices from other world-class utilities to continuously improve the services we deliver and make the best use of ratepayer dollars.
Learn more about the CWS role in the global exchange of water knowledge in the blog post, A World Connected by Shared Water and Wisdom.