Your PUD

Chelan County PUD operates nine water systems. The water systems serve about 5,000 customers. The District entered the water business in 1974 when difficulties in financing system improvements prompted the private, nonprofit Wenatchee Valley Water Co. to ask the District to assume ownership. The average daily water use is more than 1.5 million gallons. During the summer months the average daily use increases to more than 2.5 million gallons.

The District's Wenatchee area water system serves more than 4,500 customers. The average daily water use is more than 1 million gallons. To keep pace with growth, provide reliable fire protection, ensure water quality and upgrade aging equipment, the PUD has invested nearly $15 million since 2001 on major water system infrastructure upgrades including new reservoirs and related water lines and equipment. The Wenatchee system includes automated meter reading equipment that allows PUD employees to read meters from their vehicles, reducing safety hazards related to reading meters in underground meter vaults.

In 1979, the District entered a contract with the city of Wenatchee to develop a regional water supply system using a groundwater aquifer near Rocky Reach Dam. This new system was completed and placed into operation in 1983. It is operated by the city of Wenatchee and the District purchases wholesale water from the city for distribution to PUD water customers located in the greater Wenatchee area. The system includes four wells capable of producing up to 20 million gallons per day (MGD). The District is entitled to receive delivery of up to 4 MGD or 20 percent of the potential supply from the regional system. In 1998, the East Wenatchee Water District joined the city of Wenatchee and PUD as a partner in the regional water system. Today all of the people located in the greater Wenatchee urban area are served by this regional water system.

Water systems serving Ollala Canyon, Chelan Ridge and the community of Dryden collectively serve about 140 customers and deliver approximately 19 million gallons of water a year. In addition, the District operates and maintains the Chelan Falls Water System under contract.

With the mix of smaller satellite systems and one large water utility, the PUD counts on revenue growth and increased efficiencies in the largest system to support remote operations. This task is made more difficult by the nature of the main water system., which has been built along the hills and mountains around the city of Wenatchee. To serve this geographically challenging population base, the PUD pumps water about 3,000 feet uphill from the Columbia River near Rocky Reach Dam, more than 21 miles, through 31 different pressure zones, to an altitude of 3,724 feet. This requires a complicated and redundant system of reservoirs, pumps, pipelines and pressure control instrumentation. It also requires a responsive, cross-trained, and skilled workforce to handle the daily system needs and regulatory mandates.

Chelan County PUD operates three wastewater systems at Lake Wenatchee, Peshastin and Dryden. These serve approximately 450 residential and commercial customers, collecting and treating about 29 million gallons of effluent per year.