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Working on Thanksgiving: How SPU Shows Up for Seattle

“When I go home, I know I’ve done something beneficial.” —Pete Blunk, SPU Water Systems Operator It meant missing one of the most traditional holidays in the nation and a bounty of home-cooked Thanksgiving food. For employees of Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) who worked this year on the holiday, the… [ Keep reading ]

Latest storms help reservoir levels get closer to normal while water use hovers above 100 mgd

The mountain watersheds feeding Seattle’s regional water supply reservoirs received rain over the weekend, which is good news. The recent rainfall continues to help Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) replenish the drinking water supply for its 1.5 million customers. The combined total storage in our reservoirs is at 78 percent of… [ Keep reading ]

Sneak Peek: SPU’s 2024 Legislative Agenda

With Washington State’s 2024 Legislative Session fast approaching, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is gearing up to advocate for funding and legislation that supports affordability, protects the environment by reducing waste and pollution, and increases community resiliency. Beginning on January 8, 2024, the legislature will convene for 60 days to pass… [ Keep reading ]

Reservoir Levels Up, Usage Down as Water Supply Conditions Improve Over Last 30 Days

Seattle’s regional water supply conditions have improved in the past 30 days and that’s good news for the water planners at Seattle Public Utilities (SPU). “While we still need customers to voluntarily reduce their water use, our mountain reservoirs are beginning to slowly refill and that helps me sleep better… [ Keep reading ]

Prepare for this Season’s High Tides

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) plans for cold and wet weather. This preparation is critical to ensuring that your drainage, wastewater, drinking water, and solid waste services are sustained through inclement weather or, if they can’t be, that you know what to do. For more information about preparing for wet and… [ Keep reading ]

Working with Recology to Handle Special Solid Waste Customer Requests After Cyber Incident

On November 2, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) was notified by its solid waste contractor, Recology, about a cyber security incident it experienced involving its routing and customer information system. SPU is working closely with Seattle IT and Recology to understand the extent of the incident and whether any customer information… [ Keep reading ]

Winter Holiday Waste Collection Schedule for 2023 

With the holiday season just around the corner, we wanted to share an important reminder to customers about our services. Garbage, recycling, and food/yard waste will not be collected on the following upcoming holidays : On those days, and for the remainder of the week, service will be delayed one day…. [ Keep reading ]

United States Environmental Protection Agency Awards $4 Million to City of Seattle for Solid Waste Infrastructure, Advancing Environmental Sustainability Efforts  

Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $4,000,000 grant to the City of Seattle for a Solid Waste Infrastructure project. Funding for the grant comes from the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) grant program, authorized by the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act and funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law… [ Keep reading ]

2023 Holiday Tips from SPU

Pumpkin Spice Lattes, step aside. Late November and December usher in all kinds of other seasonal drinks and foods (Latkes! Tamales! Lumpia! Turkey!) and treasured opportunities to gather with friends and family. As your public utility, we’re hoping you’ll make water and waste stewardship part of your 2023 year-end celebrations…. [ Keep reading ]

Seattle-Area Sees 44-Million-Gallon-Per-Day Drop in Water Usage – Inching Closer to The Regional Goal

On September 21 Seattle Public Utilities began asking its 1.5 million customers to voluntarily reduce their water use to help stretch the region’s water supply. At that time, the Seattle region was using about 149 million gallons of water per day (mgd). Fast forward to today, our average consumption is… [ Keep reading ]