Overview
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Overview

Introduction

From its inception in 1938 until 1996, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Utility Administration was a part of the DC Government.  In 1996, a change in District and federal law created the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA), an independent agency of the District of Columbia government. DCWASA provides retail drinking water distribution, wastewater collection, and wastewater treatment services to the District of Columbia and provides wholesale wastewater treatment services to certain suburban jurisdictions.  The Authority develops its own budget which is incorporated into the District's budget and then forwarded to Congress.  All funding for operations, improvements and debt financing now comes through usage fees, EPA grants and the sale of revenue bonds. The new organizational structure enables DCWASA to respond quickly to changes in the industry, to create its own regulations and policies for procurement, human resources and finances, to negotiate its own contracts and labor agreements and to sell bonds.

Download DCWASA's enabling legislation [PDF 162 KB] to read the law that created DCWASA.

DCWASA's daily operations are controlled by a General Manager who reports to an 11-member Board of Directors.  Six of the board members represent the District and five represent the adjoining jurisdictions, two members each from Prince Georges and Montgomery counties in Maryland and one from Fairfax County in Virginia.  The Board met for the first time on September 26, 1996.  The Board holds regular meetings on the first Thursday of the month.  For information about Board or Committee meetings, which are open to the public, contact the Board Secretary at 202-787-2330.

DCWASA provides retail water and wastewater services to its residential and commercial customers in the District, with rates for these services set by the Authority's District of Columbia Board Members.  Wholesale wastewater treatment is provided to portions of Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia, as well as to the town of Vienna, Virginia.  These suburban jurisdictions pay the full cost for their use of facilities and services based on a funding formula in the Blue Plains Intermunicipal Agreement.  DCWASA's Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant, located in southwest Washington, is the largest advanced wastewater treatment facility in the world.

The Authority buys its drinking water from the Washington Aqueduct, a division of the Army Corps of Engineers. The Aqueduct treats the water and DCWASA distributes it throughout the District.

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Facts about DCWASA

DCWASA is a multi-jurisdictional regional utility that provides drinking water, wastewater collection and treatment to more than 500,000 residential, commercial and governmental customers in the District of Columbia, and also collects and treats wastewater for 1.6 million customers in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia.

  • Approximately 920 employees work at various facilities throughout the District.
  • DCWASA's service area covers approximately 725 square miles.
  • DCWASA delivers water to over 130,000 locations in Washington, DC, and provides nearly 135 million gallons of drinking water a day for use by individuals and businesses.
  • DCWASA operates the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is the largest advanced wastewater treatment plant in the world. The Plant covers 150 acres with a capacity of 370 million gallons per day (mgd) and has a peak capacity of 1.076 billion gallons per day.
  • DCWASA establishes rates, fees and other charges for all services provided. The fees collected from DCWASA's 2 million customers generate the revenue to pay for operating costs.
  • To distribute water and support the distribution system, DCWASA operates nearly 1,300 miles of pipes, five pumping stations, five reservoirs, four elevated water storage tanks, 36,000 valves and 8,700 hydrants.
  • To collect wastewater, DCWASA operates approximately 1,800 miles of sanitary and combined sewers, 22 flow-metering stations, nine off-site wastewater pumping stations and 16 stormwater pumping stations within the District of Columbia. Separate sanitary and stormwater sewers serve two-thirds of the city. In the older portion of the system, primarily in the downtown area, combined sewers are in service.
  • DCWASA rates are highly competitive when compared to water and wastewater rates in similar cities in the mid-Atlantic region.
  • DCWASA has an unusually stable customer base. More than 38 percent of its revenue comes from federal, municipal and county governments, and 40 percent comes from commercial entities whose businesses are substantially driven by the regional economy. The remaining 17 percent of revenue is derived from residential customers in the District.

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Recent Accomplishments

In the short time since its creation, DCWASA has made many improvements in its operations and undertaken several major initiatives.

2007
  • WASA conducts a sewer system assessment, used to develop a facility plan for the entire District sewer system.
  • WASA plans and begins an $85 million project for water system improvements east of the Anacostia River to improve water pressures, replace old cast iron water mains with new ductile iron pipe, replace aging water pumping station originally constructed in 1913 and construct a new elevated water storage facility.
  • Construction begins on a $104 million nitrification/denitrification facility upgrade within the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.
  • WASA awarded Gold Peak Performance Award (for sixth straight term) by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) for outstanding plant effluent quality and compliance with the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements.
  • WASA achieves Platinum Tier 4 Status from the National Biosolids Partnership Environmental Management System (NBP EMS) for WASA Biosolids Program.
  • WASA receives 2007 Metering Awards Program's "Best Use of Metering as a Customer Care Tool" award by VPN Global AMI Utility Peer Group.
2006
  • WASA's Customer Service Department communicates with non-English speaking customers in over 150 different languages, using Language Line Services to access a telephone interpreter.
  • WASA begins soil sampling for the construction of a network of huge, 200-foot deep, underground tunnels, nearly 10-miles long and 25 feet in diameter to reduce CSO's into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek during heavy rain storms.
  • WASA earns Platinum Award for Sustained Competitive Achievement from the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies for water utility management.
2005
  • WASA receives First Place U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Award for Exemplary Biosolids Management Program.
  • WASA renovates its Bryant Street Pumping Station. The station pumps nearly 90 million gallons of water throughout the city each day.
  • Construction begins on new East Side Pumping Station, located in Anacostia Park.
  • The Biosolids Loading Silo was completed, expediting the removal of sludge before it turns septic.
  • WASA is highlighted during the 78th Annual Water Environment Federation's Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC), held in the District of Columbia.
2002
  • WASA initiates an ambitious program to replace all of the lead pipes in the District of Columbia's public spaces – the largest program of its kind in the nation.
  • WASA continued implementation of the Automated Meter Reading Program (AMR), installing more than 115,000 automated meters by the end of FY 2004. AMR replaces old meters with new, state-of-the-art equipment that uses radio technology, allowing WASA to obtain accurate, automatic real-time meter readings.
  • WASA fully integrates the AMR's state-of-the art technology and Customer Information and Billing System – giving customers the ability to access their daily water use directly from WASA's website or from its Interactive Voice Response phone system.
  • WASA converts all accounts from quarterly to monthly billing and redesigned the monthly customer bill to make it easier to read and convey more useful information.
  • WASA launches its Community Water Pledge that, with the Environmental Protection Agency, promises to meet and exceed the requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule.
2002
  • Senior lien revenue bond ratings are upgraded to second highest category: AA- (Standard and Poor, Fitch Ratings), Aa3 (Moody's Investment Service).
  • WASA implements Automated Meter Reading Program to assure 100-percent accuracy of residential and commercial meters.
  • WASA receives $49.7 million in federal funding to address combined sewer overflows.
  • WASA initiates Serving People by Lending a Supporting Hand (SPLASH), a program that offers assistance to families in need until they get back on their feet. SPLASH is funded by contributions from the community and WASA customers.
  • Board of Directors institutes new rate structure based on metering fee, pass-through of the District's right-of-way fee, and usage.
  • WASA receives prestigious Gold Award from the Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, recognizing WASA's highest level of compliance with federal standards for discharges from the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant into the Potomac River.
2002
  • Received 5th unqualified audit
  • Launched new website
2001
  • Regionalization and Privatization studies completed
  • Combined Sewer System Draft Long-Term Control Plan issued by Board for public comment and regulatory agencies' review.
  • Implemented new Customer Information and Billing System
  • Implemented new Automatic Meter Reading and Replacement Program
  • Initiated Phase II of reorganization of Customer Service Department
  • Information Technology Strategic Plan adopted by Board
  • Established Maintenance Management System
  • Ended use of chlorine and sulfur dioxide at the Blue Plains Plant
2000
  • Implementation of the DCWASA's Internal Improvement Program
  • Unsolicited bond ratings upgrade to "A+"
  • BNR Project expanded to full plant
  • Established two customer assistance programs
1999
  • 20-year Master Facilities Plan adopted by Board
  • 10-year, $1.6 billion Capital Improvement Plan gains Board approval
  • Creation of Information Technology Department
  • Creation of employees' "gainsharing" program
  • New independent systems implemented: HR/Payroll; Financial Management; Retirement & Benefits and, independent procurement regulations adopted
  • Created a Water Quality Division
  • Established comprehensive Training & Development program
  • Established Occupational Safety & Health Department
1998
  • 10-year Financial Plan adopted by Board
  • DCWASA entered the bond market and garnered first-time "A-" ratings
  • First time issuer of $285 million in revenue bonds
  • Creation of Department of Human Resources, Office of General Counsel, Internal Audit function and reorganized the Budget & Finance Department
  • Negotiated DCWASA's first Master Labor Agreement covering 5 local labor unions under one agreement
  • Reorganization of Customer Service Department
  • Established Fleet Department
1997
  • First retail water and sewer rates increase since 1986
  • New top management team hired after national search
  • Began internationally renown Biological Nitrogen Removal (BNR) project at the Blue Plains Plant
1996
  • First Board of Directors established

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