WASHINGTON — With more dry weather ahead, the Northwest could be headed for dangerous drought conditions this summer. Residents may even be asked to refrain from washing cars or watering lawns in order to conserve.
But Willows Run Gold Course in Redmond will be as green as ever. Even greener, its manager claims, because of its use of recycled water.
"Recycled water" is a more gentle term for treated human wastewater, or sewage. At Willows Run, not only does recycled water flow in its ponds and fountains, but all 160 acres of the public golf course are irrigated with the treated human wastewater.
When King County planned the Brightwater Treatment Plant more than 10 years ago, Willows Run agreed to be its first customer. Since 2013, the course on Willows Road has obtained all of its irrigation water from the Woodinville plant 9 miles away -- at a cost of $65,000 a year. Because 100 percent of Willows Run’s water is recycled, course manager Brian Patton claims 40 million gallons of fresh water a year isn’t being pumped from underground wells or nearby rivers.
"(Willows Run)may be the greenest golf course in the U.S.,” Ellen Southard, of Salmon Safe, told KIRO 7. “They’re certainly the greenest golf course in our region.”
Many other, much drier states in the country are also turning to recycled water out of necessity. According to King County’s Recycled Water program manager, that recycled water is being used for residential irrigation, cooling systems, laundry, car washes, street sweeping -- even what was once unthinkable.
“I think some of the movement in other parts of the country is to treat it to a higher level and use it for drinking water,” Kristina Westbrook said. “I don’t know if that will ever happen up here. We have a different environment."
Westbrook said she’s confident the Northwest will see more recycled water use in the future “as we’re trying to preserve our fisheries and our streams and water for people."
Patton said drought and possible global warming are on the minds of every golf course manager he knows. “If everyone else is cutting back their water use and their lawns are going brown, golf courses can’t have a bright green golf course” unless the water is recycled, Patton said.
He predicts that many more golf courses will switch to recycled water in the future, if available. “You don’t have to be a golfer to understand the benefits of recycled water,” he said.
Other benefits at Willow Run that Patton wasn’t expecting: “Recycled water has some bio-nutrients in it, some nitrogen and phosphorous. They help keep our grass even greener” than fresh water, Patton said, reducing the need of fertilizers.
Willows Run uses less than 5 percent of the water Brightwater pumps out, so King County is working to expand the use of its recycled water. Westbrook of King County said the city of Kirkland is currently exploring some usage options.
- For more information on recycled water click here
- For more information about Willows Run click here
- For more information on Salmon Safe click here
Governor Inslee declared a statewide drought weeks ago.
For the first time in a decade, a governor declared a statewide #drought for Washington. See maps leading up to today...
Posted by KIRO 7 Eyewitness News on Friday, May 15, 2015
Eighty percent of rivers, streams and creeks are near record lows in Washington State.
The drought also brings concerns of a bad fire season across the west coast, which is something else Senator Cantwell says the government needs to focus on right now.
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