The Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) is a partnership between the City of Eugene, the City of Springfield, and Lane County. The MWMC is responsible for regional wastewater treatment in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area and is committed to a cooperative partnership with the community, sustainable solutions, and, above all, keeping our water clean!
To successfully protect the health of our community and our environment, our Commission sets our strategies based on five Key Outcomes.
The Commission
The Commission consists of 7 representatives, including 3 commissioners from Eugene, 2 from Springfield, and 2 from Lane County. Together, they set the budget and policy direction for the MWMC. The MWMC’s regional wastewater program budget is approved annually by the Eugene City Council, Springfield City Council, and the Lane County Board of Commissioners.
Commissioner Joe Pishioneri Retires
Springfield City Councilor Joe Pishioneri announced his retirement from public service at the end of 2024. Commissioner Pishioneri served on the MWMC as Springfield's elected representative beginning in 2015, and we were honored to work with him during his nine-year tenure. We wish Joe the best in his retirement!
Operations
Cleaning Water, Every Day
Our regional wastewater treatment plant cleans water 24/7, every hour of every day. In 2024, we cleaned a total of 14 billion gallons of water. That's an average of 38 million gallons per day. Wintertime flows increase with heavy rainfall due to infiltration. We reached our peak flow a few days after Christmas, with 169 million gallons on December 29th.
Resilient Service
The January ice storm caused many infrastructure challenges in Lane County. Thousands of people lost power, and roads were iced over. In Springfield, many of the pump stations that convey wastewater from neighborhoods to our treatment plant lost power. Wastewater operators and pump maintenance staff braved the icy conditions in the early hours of the storm to deploy generators and ensure that there were no backups or loss of wastewater service.
After the ice melted, the regional wastewater treatment plant started receiving more than 100 million gallons per day of incoming water. We were able to scale up our plant processes quickly and treat all of the water before safely releasing it to the Willamette River.
Sustainable Resource Recovery
Our Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) facility harvests methane from byproducts of the wastewater treatment process and purifies it, making it available as a fuel source for our community. Our renewable natural gas is injected in NW Natural's pipeline. In 2024, we produced 76.6 million cubic feet of renewable natural gas. That's enough to fuel 1,431 cars or heat 1,350 homes for a year!
Ensuring Safe, Clean Water
The MWMC constantly tests every part of the treatment process. We do this to ensure our water complies with all regulatory standards, protect the health of our community and the Willamette River, and monitor the complex factors that affect our treatment process. In 2024, our lab staff and operators performed 29,680 tests on samples collected from our wastewater processes.
Capital Improvements
Maintenance & Upgrades
Maintenance staff work year-round to keep our facilities in peak condition. Most maintenance projects involve minor repairs and service, but we occasionally have major maintenance work that must also be accomplished.
In 2024, we identified that one of our anaerobic digestors and a sludge holding tank needed a new corrosive-resistant coating inside their domes. This work was bid out for contractors, and the recoating was completed in October.
Project Status Update
Administration & Operations Building
- Pre-construction activities started.
- Building permits received from the City of Eugene.
Aeration System Upgrades
- Contractor selection will begin in Spring 2025.
- Work will begin in July 2025.
Class A Recycled Water Facilities
- Pre-construction testing and adjustments of our filter system continued to ensure Class A recycled water standards are met.
- Pre-construction environmental and land use permitting requirements completed.
Glenwood Pump Station Upgrades
- 90% design reached.
- Began the permitting process.
Biosolids Management
Returning Nutrients to Nature
Our Biosolids Management Facility works to process the solid waste collected during the wastewater treatment process. This nutrient-rich resource is first broken down in our anaerobic digestors at the regional wastewater treatment plant. Then, it is pumped out to the lagoons at the biosolids facility, where biosolids continue to break down into an enriched organic product over 2-4 years. Then, operators pump the biosolids out of the lagoons and put them through a dewatering process. After that, the biosolids are laid out in our drying beds during the hot summer months to continue drying out.
Once they reach the proper moisture content level, our biosolids are tested to meet Class B standards and can be distributed as fertilizer for non-food crops. We partner with several local grass seed farms to provide this free soil amendment to them, and we also fertilize our poplar trees at our Biocycle Farm with biosolids. Our biosolids retain carbon in the soil and offset the need for chemical fertilizer use.
In 2024, the MWMC produced 4,281 dry tons of biosolids. We distributed 1,895 tons to grass farms, and 2,386 tons were applied to our poplar tree farm.
New Trees Continue to Grow
Following the planting season at our Biocycle Farm in 2023, many new trees did not survive summer – particularly in areas where soils tend to be drier, such as the edges of the unit. In 2024, with help from the Northwest Youth Corps, we replaced the saplings that didn't make it with new whips. We also irrigated the farm with 37 million gallons of recycled water from our treatment plant. By the end of the season, the new whips showed better signs of resilience, and our one-year-old saplings are growing healthily.
Future Planning
MWMC Awarded $4 Million in Grant Funding
In May 2024, the MWMC was selected to receive $4 million in funding for our Class A Recycled Water project by the Bureau of Reclamation. When completed, the MWMC plans to make its recycled water available to community partners as an alternative water supply for uses that do not require drinking-grade water, such as irrigation and industrial processes. Project funding was awarded in recognition of the importance of recycled water as a sustainable practice for community drought-resiliency and water management benefits.
20-Year Facilities Plan Update
Wastewater infrastructure is large and complex and requires a great deal of planning to build correctly. Every 20 years, the MWMC evaluates our current infrastructure, forecasts our community's future growth will look like, and puts together a plan for the next two decades. During 2024, our environmental planning team did the bulk of the work to prepare for the next 20 years, with help from our engineers and maintenance team. This plan will be finalized in the coming year, and it will guide both our capital improvement projects and identify opportunities to serve the community better.
Public Education & Outreach
Clean Water University Expands to 3-Day Event
Every year, the MWMC hosts Clean Water University, an educational event for 5th-grade students in the Eugene-Springfield area. In the past, this has been a 2-day event, with a maximum capacity of 10 schools. To increase our capacity and reach more students, wastewater staff worked to expand the event to 3 days in 2024, allowing us to include 11 schools and more than 700 students, teachers, and parents.
Wally the Waterdrop also made his in-person debut at Clean Water University. He became the MWMC's educational mascot in 2023, and he'll be included at events in the future to help teach kids about the importance of clean water.
Award-Winning Pollution Prevention Campaign
The MWMC launched it's first pollution prevention advertising campaign in 2024, focused on preventing grease and wipes from entering the wastewater system. Over the course of 3 months, ads ran on streaming TV and radio, websites, social media, and billboards, racking up more than 6 million impressions in the Lane County area. With Lane County's population of 381,000, that's enough impressions for every resident to have seen our ads 15 times each!
Due to the success of the campaign, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) honored the MWMC with a National Environmental Achievement Award, which communications staff accepted in January 2025.
Continued Outreach and Education
Communications staff also continued with other outreach strategies in 2024, including sponsorships, event appearances, news releases and interviews, and social media. In 2024, our Facebook following increased to 1,390 followers, our Instagram following to 1,149 followers, and X following increased to 220 followers. Water Wisdoms, the MWMC monthly e-newsletter, has also continued to grow its readership steadily.
Industrial Pretreatment
Watching What's Upstream
Our regional pretreatment team works to monitor businesses and industries in Eugene and Springfield, ensuring that pollutants are not being discharged into the wastewater system. Our team works to educate businesses about how to manage their wastewater processes properly, and they perform inspections and testing to ensure accountability. In 2024, Eugene staff conducted 26 site inspections and 82 sampling events, while Springfield staff conducted 18 site inspections and 52 sampling events.
Recognizing Local Excellence
We were honored, along with our partners at BRING Recycling, to present Lane County Fleet Services with their EcoBiz certification in 2024. The staff there worked hard to implement waste management improvements for their wastewater, hazardous waste, and other materials. We strive to achieve this type of community partnership with our local businesses and industries.
New Ordinances Adopted in Eugene and Springfield
The renewal of our NPDES permit in 2022 brought new requirements for our pretreatment program, and some of them required new ordinances in Eugene and Springfield. Our pretreatment staff in Eugene and Springfield helped to facilitate the adoption of sewer use standards that would meet the new requirements in 2024, and those standards have been met with approval from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
Finances
Investing in the Future
The MWMC is committed to responsible, sound financial planning that protects our utility's future while being mindful of our community members' pocketbooks. In 2024, the MWMC passed a rate increase of 5.5% percent. That translates to about $1.66 more per month for the average customer.
The Commission sets regional rates in order to maintain adequate revenues to meet existing bond conditions, maintain the community’s regional wastewater treatment system, and maintain a favorable credit rating. Moderate rate changes are made annually to avoid rate spikes, keep up with increasing costs of construction, utilities and chemicals, and to position the MWMC for potential future bond issuance in support of wastewater capital improvements.
The MWMC also conducts an annual financial audit to ensure that our community's funds are accounted for accurately and used wisely. This year's audit showed all clean results.