Pam Elardo has the unique experience of working on the widest range of wastewater management issues: she is the director of one of the largest technologically-advanced public wastewater utilities on the west coast of the United States, and she is the president of a non-profit organization that works within rural villages in the developing world where no wastewater systems exist.

“Creating Resources from Wastewater” is the vision of King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD). Pam Elardo is the director of WTD, which serves over 1.5 million customers in the Metropolitan Seattle area and implements the mission to “protect public health and enhance the environment by treating and reclaiming water, recycling solids, and generating energy” for the entire Puget Sound Region. WTD employs over 600 people who plan, design, build, operate and maintain over $6 billion of assets through an annual operating budget of $110 million and a capital budget of $220 million. More information is available at http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wtd.aspx.

Pam is also the President of the Living Earth Institute (LEI), which is a non-profit organization dedicated to “empowering communities to protect their health and environment through the sustainable use of water resources”. LEI works on grass-roots level communities across the world to implement sustainable sanitation and water resource technologies matched to the local ability to operate, maintain, and financially support. More information is available at http://living-earth.org.

Pam has been with WTD since 2001. Prior to her appointment as director in 2010, Pam served as the West Point Treatment Plant manager and had various positions in the capital improvement program. Prior experience included working with the Washington State Department of Ecology on water quality issues and building community water supply and sanitation systems as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal. Pam co-founded LEI in 1999 and has been serving as the president for the past ten years.

Pam has master’s degree in environmental engineering and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and is a licensed Professional Engineer and certified Group IV Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator.