Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission
| Company type | Bi-county governmental entity |
|---|---|
| Industry | Water supply, Wastewater treatment |
| Founded | April 8, 1916 |
| Headquarters | Laurel , United States |
Area served | Montgomery County and Prince George's County, Maryland |
Key people | General Manager and CEO |
| Products | Drinking water, Wastewater treatment |
Number of employees | 1700+ |
| Website | www |
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water) functions as a bi-county governmental entity within the State of Maryland, delivering secure drinking water and wastewater treatment services to residents of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. This excludes certain municipalities that operate their own independent water systems.
Ranked among the nation's largest public water and wastewater utilities, WSSC Water serves nearly 1.9 million people throughout an extensive service area spanning roughly . The commission owns and maintains an extensive network exceeding of water and sewer pipelines.
Operations
Operating as a bi-county organization, WSSC Water is responsible for enforcing plumbing regulations and authorizing contract plans related to the expansion of water and sewer infrastructure within its service boundaries. The commission manages three reservoirs (with partial access to a fourth), two facilities dedicated to drinking water filtration, and six water resource recovery plants. Furthermore, wastewater collected within its jurisdiction is treated at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is operated by the DC Water in Washington, D.C.
Reservoirs
Drinking water filtration plants
- Patuxent
- Potomac
- Robert Morse (in operation from 1936 to 1962)
Water Resource Recovery Facilities
| Facility | Location | Capacity[lower-alpha 1] | Receiving Body |
|---|---|---|---|
| Damascus WRRF | Damascus | 1.50 mgd | Magruder Branch |
| Hyattstown WRRF | Hyattstown | 0.015 mgd | Little Bennett Creek |
| Parkway WRRF | Laurel | 7.50 mgd | Patuxent River |
| Piscataway WRRF | Accokeek | 30.00 mgd | Piscataway Creek |
| Seneca WRRF | Germantown | 26.00 mgd | Great Seneca Creek |
| Western Branch WRRF | Upper Marlboro | 30.00 mgd | Western Branch |
| Blue Plains (operated by DC Water) | Washington, D.C. | 169.90 mgd[lower-alpha 2] | Potomac River |
Management
The governance structure of WSSC Water consists of six commissioners—equally divided with three representatives from Montgomery County and three from Prince George's County—who are appointed by their respective county executives subject to council confirmation. Day-to-day management is directed by a general manager and CEO who supervises a workforce exceeding 1,700 employees. The agency’s central administrative offices are located in Laurel, Maryland. Financial information about the commission’s budget is accessible via their official website.
History
In 1911, Asa Phillips, a sanitary engineer for the District of Columbia, organized a meeting to address the pollution originating from Montgomery and Prince George's counties that was impacting the water quality in Washington, DC—an issue posing serious public health risks. This concern prompted the Maryland General Assembly to commission a study in 1912.
Based on the study commission's advice, Delegate Paul Waters proposed legislation that led to the creation of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), which was enacted on April 8, 1916. Initially, WSSC’s role was to investigate drainage and sewage systems within the two counties. However, after a 1918 report by Robert B. Morse and Harry Hall recommending extensive construction projects, WSSC transitioned into a permanent bi-county authority.
Legislation crafted by T. Howard Duckett and championed by lobbyist E. Brooke Lee officially established WSSC on May 1, 1918, appointing William T.S. Curtis, Emory H. Bogley, and Duckett as commissioners.
Duckett designed the funding model after Elizabeth, New Jersey’s approach—employing a front-foot benefit charge combined with a land tax, where property owners bore the expense of connecting their homes. In March 1919, Maryland counties approved a tax rate of $0.015 per $100 of assessed property value to finance WSSC’s infrastructure projects.
Drinking water facilities
In 1919, WSSC Water took ownership of the Takoma Park water system, which drew water from Sligo Creek. To increase treatment capacity, it acquired a secondhand filtration plant from Culpeper, Virginia, installing it near Burnt Mills along the Northwest Branch. This facility was replaced during the 1930s by the Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant. Subsequently, a pipeline was constructed to transport water from Mink Hollow on the Patuxent River to Burnt Mills. The Triadelphia Reservoir on the Patuxent River commenced operation in 1943.
The Patuxent River Filtration Plant near Laurel was constructed in 1944, followed by completion of the T. Howard Duckett Dam and Reservoir in 1952 to further augment capacity. As of 2023, this plant supplies an average of 110 million gallons per day (mgd). The Potomac River drinking water facility began operations in 1961 with an initial capacity of 30 mgd; by 2023 its average daily output reached 280 mgd.
Sewage treatment facilities
Beginning in the 1930s, WSSC linked its main sewer lines near Washington, DC to the Blue Plains treatment plant. The first sewage treatment facility operated by WSSC opened in Bladensburg during the 1940s but was closed in the 1950s as sewer connections were redirected to Blue Plains. Today, most Montgomery County sewage is processed at Blue Plains except for northern sections served by the Seneca plant, which started operations in the 1970s. In Prince George's County, sewage treatment infrastructure expanded with the Parkway plant opening in the 1950s and both Piscataway and Western Branch plants becoming operational in the 1960s.
See also
External links
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