WaSMAR8203_05 Guide to the Seattle Water Department Water System Services Records 1958-1996 Seattle Water Department Water System Services Records Finding aid prepared by Janet Ness Funding for processing this record series was provided through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Seattle Municipal Archives © 2011
PO Box 94728 600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 3 Seattle, WA 98124-4728 Phone: 206/233-7807 Email: archives@seattle.gov http://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives
Finding aid encoded by Janet Ness 2011 Finding aid written in English. Finding aid based on DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard). Seattle Municipal Archives
PO Box 94728 600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 3 Seattle, WA 98124-4728 Phone: 206/233-7807 Email: archives@seattle.gov http://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives
8203-05 Seattle (Wash.) Water Dept. Seattle Water Department Water System Services Records 1958-1996 3 cubic feet 8 boxes Records related to operations of the Seattle Water Department. Collection materials are in English Historical Note

A public waterworks was created by City Charter amendment in 1875. However, Seattle was served primarily by small private water companies for the next decade-and-a-half. Following the Great Fire of 1889, citizens voted to fund creation of a municipally owned water system. The City purchased the private systems and began development of the Cedar River Watershed, and since 1891, has owned and operated a municipal water system. The system was administered by the Superintendent of Water under the auspices of the Board of Public Works. In 1905 the Department of Lighting and Water Works was created. Five years later, the Water Department became a separate entity. Most of the water used by the Seattle Water Department came from the Cedar River Watershed property, which also provided income for the department through the selling of logging rights. Several timber companies including Weyerhaeuser Company, Scott Paper Company and Pacific States Lumber Company, all had contracts with the Water Department. In the 1950s, Seattle voters chose to add fluoride to the city's water supply and charged the Water Department with the task of fluoridating. The election was a close one, however, and debate over the policy lasted into the '70s. In 1997 the Water Department was consolidated with the utilities of the Engineering Department to form Seattle Public Utilities.

Records of the Director of Water System Services and division staff, 1993-1996, as well as Director’s records from the predecessor Operations Division. Records consist of project files, subject files, meeting materials, correspondence, email and reports concerning the water delivery system and its maintenance, as well as customer assistance. Topics include the Cedar River pipeline and Tolt River dam and pipeline. Also included are Water Department internal communications and documents concerning Department policies and employee training.

Arranged in two subseries: Operations files and Administrative files.

Records are open to the public.

[Item and date], Seattle Water Department Water System Services Records , Record Series 8203-05. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Seattle (Wash.) Water Dept. Seattle (Wash.) Tolt River Dam (Wash.) Tolt River, South Fork (Wash.) Cedar River (King County, Wash.) Water utilities--Washington (State)--Seattle Municipal water supply--Washington--Seattle Water-meters--Washington--Seattle Seattle Public Utilities Photographs Maps Drawings

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Operations files 1958-1996 1/1 Cedar River East Side Supply Line 1975-1978 1/2 Cedar River Pipeline No. 1 1975-1978 1/3 Cedar River Pipeline No. 2 (Incl. Photographs) 1968-1976 1/4 Cedar River Pipeline No. 3 1979 1/5 Cedar River Pipeline No. 4 1974-1977 1/6 Cedar River Pipeline Right of Way 1974-1978 1/7 Lake Youngs Control Works 1975-1978 1/8 Lake Youngs Control Works 42" Waste Line 1975 1/9 Locating Reports 1981-1990 1/10 Mercer Island Pipeline (Incl. Photographs) 1975-1979 1/11 Meter Programs 1988-1989 1/12 Meter Replacement Programs 1991-1992 1/13 Meter Replacement Programs 1989-1991 2/1 One-Call Subsurface Warning 1980-1988 2/2 One-Call Subsurface Warning 1978-1979 2/3 One-Call Subsurface Warning System of King County Agreements 1978-1988 2/4 Operations Division Managers' Meeting 1983-1987 2/5 Operations Division Managers' Meeting 1988-1993 2/6 Operations Focus Group 1991 2/7 Operations - Support Services 1990-1993 2/8 Photographs - Westlake Mall, Freeze, Others 1988-1989 2/9 Pilot Program - Super Crews 1995 2/10 Pipeline Construction 1990-1993 3/1 Plastic Pipe 1993-1996 3/2 Plate Lifting Proposals 1993 3/3 Preventive Maintenance Program 1986-1991 3/4 Productivity Initiatives 1991-1993 3/5 Public Drinking Fountains 1994 3/6 Pump Stations 1993-1994 3/7 Purveyor Meter Maintenance Program 1984-1985 3/8 Purveyor Meters 1982-1989 3/9 Purveyor Meters 1973-1982 3/10 Purveyors Information 1995-1996 3/11 Spaghetti Lines (Private Water Lines) 1993-1994 4/1 Spaghetti Lines (Private Water Lines) 1993 4/2 Spaghetti Lines (Private Water Lines) 1993 4/3 Tolt Charts undated 4/4 Tolt River Dam 1962-1969 4/5 Tolt River Dam 1974-1977 4/6 Tolt River Dam 1978-1979 4/7 Tolt River Dam - City Engineering Dept. 1964-1973 4/8 Tolt River Dam - Clippings 1976-1978 4/9 Tolt River Dam - Drawings 1958-1963 4/10 Tolt River Dam and Slide Area Maps 1961-1979 5/1 Tolt River Dam Photographs 1978 5/2 Tolt River Dam Photographs - Construction, etc. 1960-1966 5/3 Tolt River Dam Photographs - Spring Slide Area 1978 5/4 Tolt Pipeline No. 1 1974-1979 5/5 Tolt Pipeline No. 1 1974-1976 5/6 Tolt River Project 1995 5/7 Tolt River Project - Remlinger and Dolder Claim 1963-1964 5/8 Tolt Regulating Basin 1975-1978 5/9 Tolt Regulating Basin 1993-1996 5/10 Transmission Line Maintenance 1994 5/11 Water Main Replacement 1993-1994 5/12 Water Quality Lab 1995 5/13 Water Supply Plan 1993-1995 5/14 Watershed 1993-1996 5/15 Waterways 2000 Project 1993 5/16 Windstorm 1/20/1993 1994 6/1 CIP, 1994 (Water Dept.) 1993-1994 6/2 Noise Ordinance 1982 6/3 Non-Revenue Water 1990-1991 6/4 Partners In Public Education (PIPE) 1992 6/5 Planning Issues 1992 6/6 Planning Unit 1990 6/7 Planning Unit 1990-1991 6/8 Policy Committee 1993 6/9 Responses To inquiries 1981-1986 6/10 Risk Management 1994-1995 6/11 Ross Store Flooding 1996 6/12 Safety Awards 1993-1996 6/13 Seattle Center 1993 6/14 Security 1996 6/15 Seniority Status 1995 6/16 Sexual Harassment 1994-1995 6/17 Skyway Water 1996 6/18 Spoil Hauling 1991 6/19 Standard Operating Procedure, Environmentally Critical Areas 1994 Administrative files 1978-1996 7/1 State Legislation Evaluation 1995 7/2 Street Use Permits (Citywide) 1994-1995 7/3 Supervisory Development Program 1994-1996 7/4 Tacoma - Seattle Interties 1995 7/5 Take Your Daughters To Work 1995-1996 7/6 Telecommuting Policy 1995-1996 7/7 Tippett Marine 1995 7/8 Training Activity Report 1993-1996 7/9 Training Council 1993-1995 7/10 Training Council / Budget 1993-1996 7/11 Training Plan 1994-1996 7/12 Tri-Caucus Members 1993 7/13 Tuition Payment Program 1988 7/14 Tukwila Takeover 1993 7/15 Tunnel Safety 1992 7/16 Underground Storage Tanks 1993-1996 7/17 Unfunded State Mandates 1987-1996 7/18 Utilities and Environmental Management Calendar 1996 7/19 Utility Coordinating Council of King County 1978-1988 8/1 Volunteer Standpipe Climbers 1995 8/2 Warehouse Issues 1994-1995 8/3 Water Action for Safety and Health (WASH) Board 1994 8/4 Water Pipe Worker 1994-1996 8/5 Water Stats, Water Utility Database Water Utility Surveys 1996 8/6 Water System Services Division Overview undated 8/7 Weston - Water GIS 1993-1994 8/8 Woolworth Building 1993 8/9 Workplace Expectations 1989-1995