Rockville’s water once again met or exceeded all federal water quality regulations limits, the city’s Department of Public Works said in the Annual Drinking Water Quality Report released July 1.
The city’s water treatment plant, on the banks of the Potomac River, serves 70% of Rockville, or approximately 13,000 accounts and 52,000 community members. The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission serves the remainder of the city.
Plant operators actively monitor water quality to ensure protective levels of chlorine and corrosion control, which prevents lead and copper in distribution pipes from leaching into drinking water. The plant incurred one monitoring violation in 2023.
Due to a clerical error, the plant did not monitor or test for Phase II/V Synthetic Organic Contaminants for the third quarter (July 1-Sept. 30). This was not an emergency and did not require customers to take any action. More information is available in the report.
A plant upgrade project that began in 2021 is nearing completion. The project replaced aged electrical equipment, components that provide primary power to the plant and workspaces dating to the plant’s opening in 1958, as well as the main building’s roof and HVAC system.
Upcoming projects include network security improvements and a chemical feed project to replace chlorine gas with sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine).
“These improvement projects will enhance system reliability and community safety and provide safer workspaces for employees,” Craig L. Simoneau, the city’s director of public works, said in a letter introducing the report.
As part of recent Lead and Copper Rule Revisions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Rockville is preparing to inventory all water service line materials on public and private property. The city will prepare a lead service line replacement plan and review corrosion control treatments based on rule revisions. Learn more at www.rockvillemd.gov/LCRR.
To learn more about the source and quality of Rockville’s drinking water, visit www.rockvillemd.gov/waterquality.