Redmond Rain #11 - RWOWS Mystery Cache
Hidden : 1/3/2013
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

The posted coordinates are a parking lot with a stormwater facility, not GZ.

Redmond Rain . . . should be treated!

But how would you go about it? I think you would need an expert on Redmond Rain to figure it out. Are you up for the challenge? Figure out how to clean stormwater at the end of a pipe and you can find the cache.

Congrats Lfppdf8&MyBetterHalf, FTF!!

At GZ you will see a stormwater treatment facility taking care of 250 acres of downtown Redmond. When the rain lands on these hard surfaces, it rushes into pipes and ultimately dumps into the Sammamish River, carrying pollutants from cars.

Stormwater management is the general term for collection, conveyance, flow control, and treatment of stormwater. The Redmond Way system does a good job of collecting and conveying stormwater. Flow control (detention) isn't necessary here because the river isn't subject to erosion from high flows. That leaves stormwater runoff treatment as the focus. Stormwater runoff treatment comes in many different types.

In the mid-1990s, it was observed that the water draining from Redmond's largest outfall into the river was oily and smelled bad. The Washington State Department of Ecology asked the City to clean up the mess. An innovative oil water separator was constructed, to remove sediments and floatable oils from the stormwater before dumping into the river. This unassuming oil water separator was located in the parking lot of the posted coordinates. It was known as the "Redmond Way Oil Water Separator (RWOWS)". Most outfalls have no treatment at all, so this end of pipe treatment was an innovative step. That technology is now 30 years old, and so Redmond found a new solution that does a better job. That new solution can be seen in the parking lot today. A pump station lifts up the stormwater in the pipes and pushes it through a series of filters in a long vault along the edge of the parking lot. For a treat, come out here when it is raining and you can see (and hear) the system at work.

Redmond Rain Review

If you have been following along with the Redmond Rain series, you could be just the expert we need to figure out how Redmond chose to clean up the water coming down this pipe. The following questions can be answered from the choices below. Find an answer's number to match with each question's letter.

A. RR#1 Temple: What stormwater treatment system is near the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple in Redmond?
B. RR#2 Bear Creek: What stormwater treatment system is behind the Bear Creek shopping center in Redmond?
C. RR#3 Downtown Park: What stormwater treatment system near Redmond's Downtown Park cleans up stormwater from 161st Ave NE?
D. RR#4 185th: What special stormwater system lies next to the wall along the new 185th Street in Redmond?
E. RR#5 Grass Lawn Park: Next to the tennis courts at Grass Lawn Park you can observe this unique stormwater management system.
F. RR#6 Marymoor Park: In Marymoor Park, you can follow this type of stormwater management facility as you follow a rain drop through the park.
G. RR#7 Overlake Rocks: You will find this type of stormwater facility near a rock wall in Overlake.
H. RR#8 Watershed: Water was stored behind this type of stormwater facility.
I. RR#9 Marymoor Wetlands West: Stormwater is absorbed like a sponge in this type of system.
J. RR#10 Overlake South: You will find a very large stormwater system under what was once a Sears parking lot. What is it?
K. RR#11 RWOWS: What kind of stormwater system was built in the mid-90s and placed in the parking lot near the posted coordinates?

01. Biofiltration swale
02. Cistern
03. Dam
04. Detention Vault
05. Drainage Ditch
06. EcoStorm Plus
07. Electro-coagulation
08. Filterra
09. Green Roof
10. Infiltration Gallery
11. Jelly Fish
12. Murphy's Soap
13. Natural Wetland
14. Oil Water Separator
15. Pantyhose strainer
16. Permeable Concrete
17. Pipe
18. Primary Clarifier
19. Rain Barrel
20. Rain Garden
21. Reverse Osmosis
22. Sand Filter
23. Spongebob Squarepants
24. Stormwater Treatment Wetland
25. Street
26. Vornado

Solve the Puzzle

Step 1: Match each question's letter (A through K) to an answer's number (1 through 26). You may use an answer more than once.

Step 2: A Little Simple Math
Final Coordinates: N 47° (B-A)(G-C).(F)(J)(B-D)' W 122° (D+J-C)(F+H).(K-I)(G-A)(E-F)'

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[Puzzle] Qb lbhe ubzrjbex ol ivfvgvat EE#1 guebhtu EE#11. [Hide] Lbh qba'g arrq gb pebff n srapr, ohg lbh'yy arrq gb tb nebhaq vg gb trg gb gur onpxfvqr. Qba'g or fghzcrq ol jung lbh frr gurer.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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