Salem, Oregon

Salem’s Public Works Department plans, constructs and maintains the City’s facilities and systems, including:

• Our safe and reliable road system
• Miles of bicycle and pedestrian lanes
• The system that delivers our healthy and plentiful water supply
• Stormwater drainage system
• Wastewater treatment system

Divisions and Functions

Maintaining the water supply, sanitary sewer, storm and transportation systems is the responsibility of the many divisions in the Public Works Department.

Planning for Current and Future Transportation and Utility Needs

The Public Works Planning and Development Division plans for current and future transportation and utility needs.

Responsibilities include:

• Helping the community prepare for naturally occurring emergencies, such as flooding
• Planning transportation systems for cars, bicycles and pedestrians
• Planning water, stormwater and wastewater services

Protecting Health by Safely Treating Wastewater

The Wastewater Treatment Division safely transports sewage to the wastewater treatment plant, where City staff process wastewater for more than 216,000 people in the Salem-Keizer area. This requires the routine inspection, maintenance and cleaning of more than 770 miles of pipeline and 29 pump stations to move wastewater across the area for treatment.

Preserving Salem’s Water Supply

The Operations Division is responsible for the operation, maintenance and management of Salem’s water, wastewater and stormwater utilities by managing:

• Salem’s streams, ditches, stormwater piping, detention basins and outfalls
• Environmental spills
• Street maintenance
• Salem’s watershed protection program with constant monitoring at the City’s treatment facility and daily routine testing of the water as it travels through water transmission mains, water storage, distribution piping, pump stations and fire hydrants, along with our customers’ service lines and water meters

The Operation Division ensures the highest quality water is delivered to more than 178,000 customers in the Salem area.

Delivering Facility and System Projects to Improve the City

The Engineering Division strives to provide efficient and effective project management to support Capital Improvements, construction permits, plat requests and records programs. Three project delivery teams perform full-service project management services through every phase of the project. Technical services manage records, land surveys and construction inspection.

This division also provides technical documentation for engineers, architects and developers such as standard plans, construction specifications and design standards.