The Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) is a partnership between the City of Eugene, City of Springfield, and Lane County. The MWMC is responsible for regional wastewater treatment in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area and is committed to a cooperative partnership with the community, sustainable solutions, and above all, keeping our water clean!
The MWMC Strives for...
The Commission
"We rely on clean water in the metropolitan area for everything that we do, and it is just as important that we return the water to the river as clean as we take it out." - Pat Farr, Lane County & MWMC Commissioner
Our Commission is formed of representatives from Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County. Three are elected officials from the governing bodies, and four are volunteers appointed to represent their communities. They provide oversight and direction for regional wastewater staff, and they review and approve policies, projects, budgets, plans, and contracts for the organization. The Commission meets monthly to conduct business, and community members are welcome to attend these meetings to voice comments and learn about the MWMC's work.
Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant
"We are committed to making lives better by cleaning pollutants out of water and implementing sustainable practices, which are essential for a thriving and healthy community." - Michelle Miranda, Wastewater Division Director
Always Cleaning
The Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant runs 24/7/365, and in 2022 cleaned a total of 12 billion gallons of water, with an average of 32.8 million gallons per day. Our peak day was on January 4th, when we cleaned 135.8 million gallons in 24 hours!
Constantly Monitoring
Our operators carefully check every part of our treatment process to make sure every drop of water we release to the Willamette River is clean. In 2022, they collected 3,283 samples at the plant and ran 28,550 tests to ensure that our water is safe and that everything is running smoothly.
15 Years of Excellence
For the 15th year in a row, the MWMC received the Platinum Peak Performance Award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. This award recognizes 100% compliance with effluent discharge limits from our Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, meaning that all the water we released into the Willamette River was cleaned and met strict environmental standards.
Renewable Natural Gas - Startup
Optimizing Resource Recovery
In November 2021, the MWMC became the first public agency in the State of Oregon to inject renewable natural gas (RNG) into an energy utility pipeline. In March 2022, we officially opened the Renewable Natural Gas Facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
After opening the new facility, we spent the remainder of 2022 continually optimizing and refining our resource recovery process. Even with regular downtime for maintenance and optimization, the new facility generated 58.8 million cubic feet of RNG that was injected into NW Natural’s pipeline. That's enough to displace the amount of fuel needed to provide one year's supply of natural gas to 5,297 homes! This renewable energy source helps reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by displacing currently used fossil fuels. It also cuts flaring of biogas created by our anaerobic digesters at the Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. The waste gas flares spent much of the year offline as we cleaned and harvested methane, and estimates show the RNG facility will reduce GHG emissions by up to 7500 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually - equivalent to removing 1600 passenger vehicles from the road. The RNG produced at our facility is chemically equivalent to natural gas already in the distribution system and is interchangeable within NW Natural's network. We also used an additional 27.2 million cubic feet of unrefined biogas to power the plant’s boiler and generator, creating sustainable energy for our own facilities.
On December 23rd 2022, the waste gas flares went dark as operators implemented their optimized strategy for 100% biogas recovery. Prior to this project, the plant utilized about 60% of the biogas generated to provide power for our facilities, but the remaining 40% had to be flared to the atmosphere. Now, after years of hard work, we are proud to have a stable facility that will create renewable energy, generate revenue, and provide an environmental safeguard against pollutants.
Award-Winning Team
The MWMC was recognized both regionally and nationally for the Renewable Natural Gas facility. The Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association honored our RNG Lead Operator, Spencer Goodro, as the Oregon Operator of the Year for his hard work and leadership on the project! The MWMC also received the PNCWA award for Excellence in Resource Recovery.
On the national level, MWMC received a National Environmental Achievement Award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies as a Water Resources Utility of the Future. The award recognizes MWMC’s commitment to building sustainable infrastructure and practices that are fiscally and environmentally responsible.
Capital Improvements
Maximizing Potential for the Future
2022 has been a year of careful planning and development for the MWMC’s capital improvements program. With construction of the RNG facility wrapping up in 2021, we are now looking ahead to infrastructure maintenance and improvements that our facilities will need to continue to operate sustainably and efficiently. Upcoming projects include:
- A comprehensive update of the 20-Year Facilities Plan
- Replacing transformers and switchgear at the Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Upgrades to the aeration basin biological treatment system
- Glenwood pump station capacity expansion
- Administration Building Improvements
- Class A Recycled Water design and delivery
Planning for Tomorrow
New Year: New Permit
One of the MWMC’s major milestones of 2022 was securing new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit from the Oregon of Department of Environmental Quality. This type of permit is the mechanism that DEQ and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) use to enforce the Clean Water Act. The NPDES permit sets minimum water quality regulations that the MWMC must meet in day-to-day operations. These permits are one of the major policy components that help inform the overall direction of the MWMC. They help advise our planning, our capital improvements, our operations, and many of the MWMC’s other goals and objectives.
So what’s new in the permit? In terms of new water treatment requirements, not much, and that’s a great thing! The 2022 permit is the MWMC’s first new permit in 20 years – a span of time which included many new water quality standards, operational updates, and watershed plans. Because the MWMC has proactively kept up with new and developing regulations since our last permit, the 2022 permit contains many directives for actions the MWMC has already anticipated and practices we’ve already implemented. However, there are several new obligations the MWMC will need to meet over the duration of the permit.
The most notable requirement is the new temperature (thermal load) standard for protection of salmon and trout species. Thermal loading on the Willamette River comes largely from the loss of floodplain complexity and lack of shading from adequate tree cover, and is also impacted by dams, water withdrawals, and warmer water discharges – such as the MWMC’s treated wastewater. Through the new permit, the DEQ has directed the MWMC to reduce thermal loads over the next 15 years by either restoring watershed processes (such as shade trees) or reducing the amount of warmer water output from the treatment process. Fortunately, staff have anticipated this change for years and had a partnership program ready to launch.
Riparian Restoration - Helping Nature Maintain Itself
Since 2012, the MWMC has been working with The Freshwater Trust to develop a Water Quality Trading (WQT) program that will be compliant with regulatory requirements. Staff anticipated these new standards and developed plans and partnerships to ensure a program was ready for launch on Day One. Contractors got to work the same month the permit was issued on the WQT Riparian Restoration project. This project involves planting trees and vegetation in riparian areas (places beside a river or stream) to help shade the Willamette and McKenzie rivers, helping keep water temperatures cool.
The Willamette River system has lost much of the natural features that help keep cool water habitats at the temperatures needed for native species. Tree restoration helps provide the necessary cooling to offset thermal loads from treated wastewater discharges, and it also works year-round to create essential habitat and water quality benefits. Riparian restoration fosters ecosystem resiliency against climate change impacts like heat, drought, and flooding. This investment in natural infrastructure has been proven to be more cost-effective and valuable for addressing these broad-scale watershed issues than industrial infrastructure changes at treatment plants.
The MWMC is partnering with multiple groups and local landowners to accomplish this restoration through the Pure Water Partners. Over the next 5 years, the MWMC will facilitate restoring about 30 acres of riparian areas along the Willamette and McKenzie rivers. This is in addition to nearly 10 acres of riparian tree-planting that the MWMC has supported in the years leading up to our permit renewal. This was done at multiple sites, including the Mill Race in the City of Springfield.
Recycled Water Summit
In July, the MWMC partnered with The WateReuse Association to host a two-day event to bring together community partners and stakeholders and discuss the past, present, and future of recycled water. About 40 guests attended the Summer Summit and received tours of our facilities as well as tours of private business partners of the MWMC. Over the past 10 years, the MWMC identified the need to upgrade our regional treatment plant’s capacity to produce Class A recycled water and demonstrate this capability with local partners. The Class A designation represents the highest quality of recycled water under Oregon rules and is approved for virtually all uses except for drinking water. The MWMC’s current Class D recycled water has some limited agricultural uses and meets all the water quality requirements to return cleaned water directly to the Willamette River. Upgrading our recycled water capabilities can help keep industries rolling and our urban landscapes green through times of drought.
Recycled water is not only of interest as a sustainable resource: it also has tangible environmental benefits to our waterways. When we pump less naturally cold water from our rivers for uses like irrigation, the rivers are better able to maintain their natural temperatures and flows, benefitting fish habitats and water quality. This is important to MWMC both as a potential aid for regulatory compliance and as another way we can help protect Oregon’s beautiful landscapes and wildlife.
Partnering with Our Communities
As we continue forward into 2023 and beyond, MWMC will continue to seek opportunities to establish community partnerships with groups that share our goal of a sustainable future. We'll be exploring things like stormwater facility uses for biochar from our farm, cross-promotion opportunities for education and outreach, further uses for recycled water and opportunities to expand when we become Class A capable, and the possibility of connecting parts of Lane County into our regional wastewater treatment plant.
Public Education and Outreach
Clean Water University Returns
For the first time since 2019 and with much excitement, we hosted our Clean Water University event in person at the MWMC Treatment Plant! Almost 500 fifth grade students, teachers, and parents attended from seven different schools. Staff and volunteers from our partner organizations led tours and worked eight booths where the kids got to do hands-on activities to learn about clean water and the three water systems that help keep our community healthy.
We continued to make our curriculum available online as well, and many schools that could not be present for the two-day Clean Water University event have been teaching the lesson plans in classes. The requests for tours from educational groups and schools have also returned to near pre-pandemic numbers.
Springfield H2Oh!
We were excited to partner with the City of Springfield and the Springfield Utility Board to create and display an exhibit at the Springfield History Museum this year! The exhibit was open from July 2022 through January 2023, and it contained displays with tons of information about water utilities, stormwater management, and wastewater treatment. In total, 2713 people came through and saw the exhibit while it was open.
Growing Social Media
The MWMC continued to grow its social media presence in 2022, using its platforms for education and outreach. Overall, MWMC posts had a reach of 112,299 people across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and the MWMC YouTube channel racked up more the 13,000 views for a total of 326 hours of viewtime.
Communications staff also introduced the MWMC Summer of Giveaways in 2022. They ran a variety of giveaways with several different prizes, including tickets to sponsored community events, with the overall goal of growing the MWMC social media audience. These sponsored posts did exceptionally well, hitting a reach 10,935 people on their own. We also saw audience growth across all platforms, with a 24% increase in Instagram followers, a 12% increase in Facebook followers, and an 11% increase in Twitter followers.
In 2023, staff plan to continue Summer of Giveaways and increase utilization of paid promotions. We will also be creating more engaging, educational content with a view toward building long-term growth.
Biosolids Management Facility and Biocycle Farm
Reuse, Recycle, Repeat
During our 2022 operating season at the Biosolids Management Facility, our staff produced 2,525.3 dry tons of biosolids, which were applied as fertilizer to approximately 427 acres of land. 181.6 dry tons were applied on the MWMC’s Poplar tree farm, and the remaining 2,300 tons were distributed to local farmers and applied to grass crops. The facility also used 16 million gallons of recycled water from the treatment plant to irrigate the Biocycle Farm.
The Biosolids Management Facility receives solid organic waste from the MWMC’s Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. The waste is broken down in lagoons, then during the summer it is pumped out and converted into biosolids usable as fertilizer. The solids are filter pressed and dried to remove water from them. Our staff then test them to EPA Class B Biosolids guidelines, to make sure they will provide usable nutrients for crops like Poplar trees and grass seed.
2023 Planting Season
It’s time to plant new Poplar trees! As we begin 2023, we are partnering with Northwest Youth Corps to harvest and plant approximately 25,000 whips that will grow into new trees. After several years of testing different varietals of poplar for growth, health, and yield, our staff have identified two varietals of Poplar trees that we plan to use for many years to come. These trees are more resilient and produce better yields than other varietals we tried. Farm staff will continue to refine our processes and improve our capabilities.
Making Sustainable Products
2022 was not a harvest year, but there was plenty to do at the farm! Farm staff processed the slash (leftover branches) from our 2021 harvest and produced more than 23,500 cubic yards of hog fuel, about half of which will be used at the farm as mulch and to help provide mud control. We also produced 70,000 board feet of lumber, which is available at BRING Recycling for purchase! Our friends at BRING also held an exhibition of our sustainable poplar where it was given to designers to make furniture and décor, leading to some impressive creative designs.
Industrial Pretreatment
One Region, One Water
There are many industries that use chemicals or other pollutants as part of their processes that we cannot adequately treat at the plant. Before the water from their processes comes to the regional treatment plant, it must be safe enough for us to accept it and for us to be able meet our permit requirements. That's where the cities of Eugene and Springfield come in with source control. Though these measures are required under federal, state, and local regulations, our teams work to educate businesses first and foremost on how to remove, reduce, or alter the pollutants in their wastewater. Several of our local businesses have even earned awards for 100% compliance for more than a decade!
The industrial pretreatment teams monitor regulated businesses throughout the year, performing site inspections, running tests, and checking safety measures like spill control plans to confirm that the water we receive at the plant can be thoroughly cleaned before it's discharged to our region's rivers. In 2022, Springfield staff conducted 24 inspections and 204 tests, and Eugene staff performed 32 inspections and 203 tests. It's a dirty job sometimes, but it's an important one to make sure we take care of our community and our beautiful state!
"MWMC is much more than just cooperation between local governments. It is a strong partnership, more like a relationship that we share with one goal: doing the job the right way that always benefits our entire region, without exception, for the lowest cost possible to our ratepayers." - Joe Pishioneri, 2022 Commission President
Fiscal Management
Keeping Responsible Finances
The MWMC is funded by customers from the cities of Eugene and Springfield who depend on us to safely clean and return the water back to the river. We bill through Eugene Water & Electrical Board (EWEB) and Springfield Utility Board (SUB). On your utility bill, you’ll see a regional and local component for wastewater. The regional portion of the bill goes to the MWMC, and the local part is paid to either the City of Eugene or City of Springfield to maintain local wastewater pipes.
The MWMC constantly explores alternative revenue streams to keep costs as low as possible for customers. Things like our Renewable Natural Gas Facility, riparian restoration project, and Poplar tree farm are all ways we continue to create solutions that are sustainable both for the environment and for our local economy. We also perform an annual financial audit to ensure that we continue budget wisely and transparently.