Power outage at Barton Pump Station next to Fauntleroy dock

| Fauntleroy | Utilities | West Seattle news

(Recent aerial of Barton Pump Station and project area, by Long Bach Nguyen)
The King County Wastewater Treatment Division says things might be noisier than usual at Barton Pump Station next to the Fauntleroy ferry dock right now, because a power outage has required them to use a generator:

Power was unexpectedly lost at the Barton Pump Station around 3:45 pm today. No overflows were reported, and crews are currently investigating the cause. A generator will be running onsite until power can be restored to the station.

The Barton Pump Station Upgrade includes an onsite generator, which will be housed in an underground vault, for unexpected power loss such as today’s occurrence.

The pump station also had a power outage last June (WSB coverage here) – and that one DID lead to an overflow.

mike February 27, 2013 (6:24 pm)

That’s gotta be one hell of a generator

cjboffoli February 27, 2013 (6:53 pm)

It seems we’re going for the record for the highest amount of raw sewage that West Seattle can spill into Puget Sound this month.

Chris February 27, 2013 (9:43 pm)

Article reports that no overflow occurred.

no February 28, 2013 (11:06 am)

Whole project is a fiasco. I hope they make the beach as nice as it was before!

WSB February 28, 2013 (11:11 am)

We showed the renderings a year or two back. The plans look nice and Fauntleroy Community Association fought hard to make sure they committed to a lot of restoration etc. Cove Park is our favorite pocket beach and we look forward to its return …

howty February 28, 2013 (1:17 pm)

what is that pump station anyway…a gas station?

WSB February 28, 2013 (1:40 pm)

Pump as in pumps sewage from a few square miles to the north/south/east, northward through Lowman and then on to the big processing plant at West Point.

ClayM March 1, 2013 (11:19 am)

Having worked in this industry for over 25 years I can assure you those charged with delivering and treating your waste try to get every last drop of the 133 million gallons there and treated each and every day. Remember that these workers do not generate all that sewage, but their thankless job is to process your waste. That is about 4.8 billion gallons per year for the 1.5 million people. There are hundreds of pump stations, each equipped with mechanical pumps and electrical controls. Maintenance schedules are regular and thorough. Our crystal balls sometimes fail to inform us the station is about to fail despite our diligence. When we see there are changes needed, engineering, planning, logistics, environmental impact studies, traffic and budgets are necessary to keep our waste moving during repairs, and sometimes it is messy. Not sure many of us would tolerate a “no flush” order until the repairs were made or want to have sole responsibility to deal with all of our waste if they placed a cap on the sewer line coming from our house. It has been my experience that most of those charged with taking care of our waste take pride in keeping our waters free from waste… It is easy to be critical, but if you want to help….thank them for being willing to deal with your waste and the diligence they exercise while asking yourself how long you can go without flushing, showering, or letting any water go down the drain…

Sorry, comment time is over.