Check out speedy, new $2M boat that sniffs out bad wastewater in Puget Sound

Every day, starting at 7 a.m., scientists with King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division head out to monitor Puget Sound’s water quality. Given that King County dumps more treated waste into the Sound than any other county in the state, that’s an important duty.

Until recently, they traveled in a 40-year-old vessel named Liberty, which chugged along at 13 knots and spewed blue diesel smoke into the air and water.

But in late July, they received a new, $2 million research vessel, SoundGuardian, a name inspired by the famous Seattle rock band Soundgarden.

The new vessel, a catamaran, is bigger, wider and more stable in rough waters. Its top speed is 30 knots and it has jets rather than a rudder, which means it can venture into waters as shallow as 3 feet.

The scientists are thankful to county residents for paying for it through the Wastewater Division’s capital budget.

“It’s great to work in King County where people actually care about this stuff and give us the money for it.” said Bob Kruger, a scientist with the King County Environmental Lab and the SoundGuardian’s captain.

The division is already saving money on staff wages and maintenance costs with the new vessel, said Ben Budka, a field supervisor at the King County Environmental Lab. In a given year, the Liberty cost about $50,000 to maintain, according to Kruger.

On a typical day of collecting data and water samples, the SoundGuardian’s crew makes about six stops in Puget Sound, including Elliott Bay and Point Wells. At each place, the captain stops the ship, sometimes in the middle of traffic lanes, and crew members lower water-quality sensors several hundred feet into the water to measure temperature as well as levels of salt and dissolved oxygen.

The sensor collects water samples that are later tested for nitrogen, among other compounds. Too much nitrogen or too little oxygen can be signs that the county’s treated sewage waste is hurting the Sound, according to Kim Stark, a county water-quality planner.

The crew also collects samples of zooplankton and phytoplankton that are sent for testing to labs operated by King County and the University of Washington. Those tests track changes in the types and numbers of plankton in the Sound — both indicators of the impact of urban pollution. These two species are especially important because they are the basis for the entire food chain in the Sound, Kruger said.

King County uses the data and samples collected by SoundGuardian’s crew to make policy decisions about Puget Sound. For example, the county has identified Quartermaster Harbor in Vashon Island as an area of risk.

There, field workers found very low levels of dissolved oxygen. There is almost too little oxygen to support life, Stark said.

For Kruger, the switch to the SoundGuardian comes after a five-year wait. He was involved in talks with the boat’s manufacturer — Seattle’s Kvichak Marine Company — from the beginning. Kruger said two features he advocated for are the new boat’s sophisticated radar display and open-design plan, which allows him to communicate with crew members working on the back deck while maintaining control of the boat.

The SoundGuardian is also safer than its predecessor.

Its jet system, for example, can turn to a horizontal position, which allows the boat to glide sideways or turn in a very tight circle. Maneuvers like these help the vessel avoid accidents amid the freighters and ferries in busy Puget Sound, Kruger said.

“My recurring nightmare with the Liberty was that we’d be backed into a cul-de-sac and stuck there because we couldn’t turn,” he said.

The boat also can go from full speed to an emergency stop in just three boat lengths. That’s much faster than the old vessel, Kruger said.

SoundGuardian is more environmentally friendly, too.

“When we first took this thing out, we walked out onto the deck and said, ‘Wow, it smells amazing out here,’ ” said crew member Stephanie Hess. “It’s the first time we can smell the ocean. Before, all we could smell was diesel.”