Water for Montgomery County residents and businesses is supplied primarily by the Potomac River and, to a lesser extent, the Patuxent.

On average, approximately 170 million gallons of drinking water per day are produced by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) for Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.

The quantity and quality of the water supply are key environmental concerns for the region. Watershed protection initiatives safeguard both the watershed ecosystem and the quality of water received at water supply treatment plants on the Potomac and Patuxent. Water consumption levels can dramatically reduce available aquatic life habitat and impact aquatic ecosystems during periods of prolonged drought. These impacts are magnified when unusually high quantities of water are withdrawn which extend periods when river systems meet or fall below minimum flow rates required to protect the health of aquatic organisms.

Current data reflects only WSSC production levels for the combined bi-county area (which includes Prince George’s County). It is expected that subsequent reporting through a current WSSC Total Water Management Study will provide information on Montgomery County consumption rates, broken down into commercial and residential categories. Such data will allow measurement of per capita consumption, and will further reflect conservation program effectiveness, as current data show a wide variance of up to 50 percent between wet (December-March) and dry season (April-November) production.