BOISE, ID-Marysville’s Downtown Stormwater Treatment Park was honored by the Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association with its Innovative Stormwater Project Award. The award was presented Sept. 10 at the association’s annual conference in Boise, ID.
This exciting project opened in May 2024. Before that, rainwater would pick up oils and chemicals from roads and parking lots before flowing directly into Ebey Slough, harming fish and local waterways.
This facility treats 460 acres of urban runoff – that’s the size of 170 baseball fields, or most of the downtown area south of 80th Street NE. While a typical treatment plant of this scale would take up several acres, Marysville’s facility uses only a half-acre by using new media – the Filterra Bioscape system – for the first time at this scale.
“This truly innovative project provides tremendous environmental benefits through stormwater treatment,” said Jeff Laycock, Marysville Public Works Director. “The city is grateful for the recognition from PSNCWA to highlight the project at this year’s conference. I also want to extend my appreciation to the project team, including Steve Miller, Parametrix and McClure and Sons as well as our funding partner, the Washington State Department of Ecology.”
The facility filters stormwater runoff through two pretreatment units where solids like dirt sink to the bottom and floatable matter is screened. Next the water enters four treatment units and flows through filtration channels to where it is treated by plants, media and microbes before draining into Ebey Slough. The treatment plant will clean 110 million gallons of water every year and prevent 100,000 pounds of pollution from entering the slough over the next 20 years.
“Thanks for your extraordinary service to the clean water industry,” wrote J. Scott Kindred of the PSNCWA Awards Committee.
The Department of Ecology provided $7.6 million in grant funding. Using green stormwater technology, this investment in the city’s infrastructure meets DOE standards for regional stormwater treatment. An extra benefit is that it complements the city’s Ebey Waterfront Park to the east and extends the public space along the waterfront.
Source: City of Marysville
