WSSC Consent Decree Work Proceeds Near Swains Lock

Responding to an inquiry from the West Montgomery County Citizens Association, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has described its progress on  two significant projects underway at the Potomac Water Filtration Plant off River Road just three-quarters of a mile west of Swains Lock.

The citizens association contacted WSSC because its members noticed a lot of construction and downing of trees over the past months, Barbara Hoover writes in the group's April newsletter. In a brief Q and A, WSSC said that the is being done in accordance with a consent decree finalized in 2015. The goal of the decree is to reduce solids discharged back into the river following the filtration process. 

"On the east side of the plant," WSSC said, "we are constructing a storage and treatment facility for our filter backwash effluent, including a new pumping station. In addition, we have major equipment upgrades within the sedimentation basins and filters. The second project, on the west side of the plant, centers on the construction of three new gravity thickeners (large round tanks) and a splitter box that controls the flow discharge among the tanks. Both projects are being constructed to separate and capture solids (silt material) from our filter backwash effluent before that effluent is released back into the Potomac River."

The work is due to be completed early in 2026.