District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority

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The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, or WASA was created in 1996. The District of Columbia Government and the United States Government established WASA as a semiautonomous regional entity. WASA's finances are completely separated from DC's finances. The Authority develops its own budget which is then included in the DC budget. Together these two budgets are presented to Congress for approval. Usage fees (water and sewer bills), revenue bonds and Environmental Protection Agency grants pay for all operations, capital improvements and debt financing.

An eleven-member Board of Directors governs WASA. A General Manager who handles daily operations reports to the Board. DC is represented by six Board Members. Prince George's County, Maryland, has two Board Members. Also, Montgomery County, Maryland, has two Board Members. Fairfax County in Virginia has a single Board Member.

WASA purchases its potable water from the Washington Aqueduct which is run by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Aqueduct treats the water and WASA's pipes make it available in DC.

[edit] Statistics

Employees: 1,200 (FY 2003)
Service area: 725 square miles
Locations served: 130,000
Drinking water served: 135 million gallons a day
Customers: 2,000,000
Drinking water distribution
- Pipes: 1,300 miles
- Pumping Stations: 5
- Reservoirs: 5
- Elevated water storage tanks: 4
- Valves: 36,000
- Hydrants: 8,700
Sewers
- Sanitary and combined sewers: 1,800 miles
- Flow-metering stations: 22
- Off-site wastewater pumping stations: 9
- Stormwater pumping stations: 16
Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Largest advanced wastewater treatment plant in the world
- 150 acres
- Capacity: 370 million gallons per day
- Peak capacity: 1.076 billion gallons per day.
Revenue sources
- Federal, municipal and county governments: 38%
- Commercial entities: 40%
- DC residential customers: 17%