KINGSTON — Kitsap County is finally taking aim at relieving Kingston’s needs for a new wastewater treatment system.
The county late last month awarded General Construction of Poulsbo a contract to build the replacement outfall pipe for Kingston’s sewage plant.
At a cost of $3 million, General will construct a new outfall pipe in July that will transport treated sewage from the new plant into the waters of Puget Sound.
The outfall pipe for the current system runs through Appletree Cove and heads north, past the Kingston Ferry Terminal and empties treated sewage into the Sound north of the terminal.
However, when Washington State Ferries dredged for a new terminal at the Kingston dock in the late 1980s, the pipe was accidentally pulled up and broken.
Rick Gagnon, the senior program manager for wastewater services for Kitsap County Public Works, said the new pipe will be about a mile long and will be placed south of the ferry terminal. The pipe will also remain on the east side of the Kingston Marina breakwater before heading to the Sound and emptying out at a depth of a minus 170 feet.
In preliminary investigations, Gagnon said there were some open paths through the eel grass on the floor of the cove where the pipe could be placed.
“We need to remap the eel grass where there is very little or no eel grass,” Gagnon said.
Construction is expected to start in July and end in December.
As for the treatment plant, the county has already received construction permits and excavation of the site has started. The new plant is sited at the end of Norman Road off West Kingston Road and is located on 24 acres of county property.
The old plant is still operating and will continue to do so until the new system is available. A pump station will be installed at the site of the old plant to transfer the sewage to the new plant.
Currently, 741 units — which include commercial and residential buildings — are served by the plant, Gagnon said. With the new plant, approximately 1,184 units will be served although the system is designed to handle double the capacity of water of the current plant. County officials anticipate that the structure will be completed by December and working by early next year.
The old plant is about ready to burst at the seams as it has been existence for more than 25 years. Once that site is decommissioned, residents and county officials hope to establish a public Village Green area for mixed use.
