The primary purpose of the District is to protect public health, the ground water and the environment from becoming polluted by septic waste. With this in mind, the District has set policy that requires all properties located in the Eastsound Urban Growth Area (UGA) boundaries to connect to the sewer system when a sewer main line abuts or is reasonably accessible as determined by the Board of Commissioners. The protection of the Eastsound Aquifer, the primary source of drinking water for the community, is a primary concern to the District so the Board commissioned a “Septic System Discharge Assessment” report to be conducted by Chazen Environmental Services, Inc. The “Chazen Report” was released on May 2, 2010 and provides an assessment of the risks that septic system wastewaters pose to groundwater quality reaching domestic or public wells in Eastsound under present or future growth scenarios. (Download pdf copy of Chazen Report) (Download pdf of Map of Septic Systems Proximity to Wells)
The Eastsound Sewer and Water District Mission Statement: “The Mission of the Eastsound Sewer and Water District is to provide sewer service to all properties within the District’s Sewer Service areas for the protection of public health, ground water and the environment and to meet and exceed the public needs and regulatory requirements.”
The primary goal of the District is to provide excellent and affordable sewer service to the Eastsound and Orcas Village communities, which includes the orderly expansion of sewer main lines in order to provide sewer service to all parcels of land in those areas. To Plan sufficiently to meet the growing needs of the community which include the future expansion of wastewater treatment facilities, including a bio-solids handling facility adequate to handle all septage and sludge processing and the ability to receive septage from outside sources, and, that will produce Class "A" biosolids that can be land applied ensuring the sustainability of the community's wastewater treatment processes well into the future. Other goals include upgrading the current utility billing program to include emailing of statements and online bill paying services.
