In 2008 USAID initiated a twinning partnership between Thailand's Wastewater Management Authority (WMA) and the King County Wastewater Treatment Division in the US State of Washington to strengthen the capacities of WMA and select local government authorities (LGAs) to better manage and sustain wastewater treatment facilities. Over the last 20 years the Royal Thai government has supported the construction of wastewater management systems in 87 locations throughout the country, but a survey in 2003 by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment revealed that over 75% of these systems are in poor condition or are inoperable. During 2009 King County is currently sharing its best practices and helping develop manuals/operating procedures for operating and maintaining these facilities. WMA will in turn institutionalize the new approaches and apply them when working with future LGAs to ensure sustainable services delivery.
July 2008 : King County Conducts Assessment of WMA's Facility in Krabi, Thailand
Wastewater operations experts from King County in Seattle, Washington visited the treatment plant in Krabi, Thailand on July 2-4, 2008, to help improve the effectiveness of the Wastewater Management Authority of Thailand's (WMA) operation and maintenance procedures. The experts conducted a thorough assessment of the conditions and operations at the Krabi plant, and began drafting a toolkit supporting development of an operations manual for the plant. King County is recognized as one of the most progressive counties in environmental operations in the U.S. The experiences gained from this twinning arrangement and the resulting toolkit will allow WMA to improve operations throughout their network of treatment plants.
FROM: http://www.waterlinks.org/
[also see related site: http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wtd/About.aspx]