The Road to Carbon Neutrality for Water Reclamation Utilities

Clean Water Services (CWS) is a special service district that manages storm and wastewater within Washington County, Oregon. The district set a goal to reduce its carbon footprint through greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and carbon sequestration provided by CWS’s many wetland, stream, and riparian restoration activities. Thus far the work has been done in two parts: 1) CWS operations GHG emission itemization and quantification, and 2) documentation of soil carbon sequestration potential in afforested wetlands and revegetated projects. The results showed that the highest GHG emissions from operations are due to indirect electricity use by the water resources recovery facilities estimated to represent 59% percent of CWS emissions. Soil carbon percentage in CWS revegetation projects were found to double within 5 years after planting, though this is dependent on soil type and revegetation type.