Projects and Plans
Current Projects
Disinfection Facility Mitigation
Current Phase: Design
The Joint Water Commission (JWC) received a Hazard Mitigation Program Grant from FEMA for a new disinfection facility at the Water Treatment Plant. Funds have been approved for Phase 1 Design. The current chlorine storage and feed area is located on the ground floor of the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) operations building, which was constructed in 1974 prior to seismic design standards fit for the risk of earthquakes in the region. This project goal is to transition the JWC from gas chlorine to a safer liquid disinfection system, housed in a seismically resilient structure at the current JWC WTP site.
Completed Projects
JWC Water Treatment Plant Expansion Project
In response to the need to provide additional water for growing communities in western Washington County, the Joint Water Commission (JWC) — owned in partnership by the Cities of Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Beaverton, and the Tualatin Valley Water District — completed a multi-year water treatment expansion, improvements project, and facility plan for the JWC Water Treatment Plant in 2020.
The project, a result of nearly four years of water supply planning, addressed long-term water capacity and strengthened seismic resiliency, while bringing the capacity of the plant from 75- to 85-million gallons (of water) per day (mgd).
In addition to new and enhanced water treatment capabilities increasing the plant’s treatment capacity and reliability, the project also involved strengthening water infrastructure and planning for a future plant capacity of 105-mgd. A facility plan was developed to lay the groundwork for the immediate plant expansion as well as phased seismic improvements and expansions until ultimate plant build out.
The JWC currently treats, transmits and stores drinking water for more than 365,000 customers, and is the largest conventional water treatment plant in Oregon.
Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District’s Tualatin River Environmental Enhancement (TREE) Grant
In 2023, the JWC was awarded TREE Grant funding as part of the Reducing Threats to Drinking Water from Surface Water Impoundments award. Funding was utilized by the JWC – in collaboration with the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District (TSWCD) and Tualatin River Watershed Council (TRWC) – to create a guidebook with information on how to control harmful algal blooms in the Tualatin River Watershed.
2014 Source Water Protection Plan (SWP)
JWC Source Water Assessments (SWA)
In 2013, GSI Water Solutions conducted a geospatial assessment of the source watershed for the JWC, which identified areas that pose risk to the JWC’s drinking water source area.
In 2019, the State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality prepared an updated Source Water Assessment.