Since 1979, King County has reduced its combined sewer overflows (CSOs) by 90 percent. This has succeeded in keeping more than 2.3 billion gallons of sewage and stormwater out of local waterways.

King County is required to control all of its CSOs by 2030. A “controlled” CSO can overflow no more than one time each year, on long-term average, under the Washington State standard.

King County and Seattle: both working to fix the problem

King County and the City of Seattle are each responsible for specific CSO relief points within the city limits. The history of the sewer system led to this shared responsibility. In the 1950s, voters created Metro to clean up the region’s waterways. Metro built a regional sewer system and took over operation of some of the City of Seattle's system. In 1994, King County assumed authority of Metro. King County is now responsible for treating wastewater for 34 local jurisdictions and agencies, including the City of Seattle. 

Each CSO provides a drainage relief point for specific neighborhoods. King County manages the CSOs that serve areas that are greater than 1000 acres. The City of Seattle manages the CSOs that serve smaller areas. King County manages 38 CSOs and Seattle manages about 85.

Decades of successful improvements

King County and Seattle have reduced the amount of untreated wastewater released to waterways. In the 1960s, around 30 billion gallons of untreated water flowed into our waterways each year. Now King County releases less than one billion gallons. King County began its CSO Control Program (now called Protecting Our Waters) in 1979. From 1979 to 2012, the County invested $389 million. The amount of polluted water released each year went from 2.3 billion gallons to about 0.8 billion gallons. More projects are being planned and built to reduce this further. The remaining projects are some of the most complex and expensive.