Wastewater Management

Our pledge to provide you with safe, clean drinking water is only part of our commitment. We also promise to treat the water you've used, to return clean water to the environment.

What is wastewater?

Wastewater is a broad term that generally means any water that has been used by people and discharged into a sewer system. Wastewater comes from domestic residences, commercial properties, industrial operations or agriculture. Wastewater management is the process of safely and effectively collecting that wastewater, treating it, and returning clean water to the environment in a form that will have the least impact on people and the environment.

Wastewater can contain a wide range of pollutants and contaminants, including pathogens (e.g., bacteria, viruses, and microscopic parasites), organic particles, soluble organic material, inorganic particles, toxins (e.g., pesticides, poisons, and herbicides), pharmaceuticals, household waste, and even dissolved gasses.

After treating wastewater, WSSC Water monitors it to ensure that pollutant levels in the water being returned to the environment meet federal, state, and local standards for water quality protection.

Learn more about Wastewater Treatment

Wastewater Collection System

How do we collect the millions and millions of gallons of water that goes down the drain every day? It's a big job that involves more than 5,600 miles of sewer mains (enough pipe to stretch from Laurel, Maryland to Las Vegas, Nevada and back!) Learn more about the big undertaking that is our wastewater collection system.

Learn How We Collect All That Water

Sewer Rehabilitation

WSSC Water, one of the largest water/wastewater utilities in the nation, serves about 1.9 million customers in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. That requires more than 5,600 miles of sewer pipeline - most of which dates to the 1940s and 1950s and is nearing the end of its useful life. Some pipelines can be repaired while others require replacement.

Learn All About Pipeline Repair