The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, created by the
General Assembly in 1918, consists of six members, two of whom are
appointed by the Governor, two by the County Council of Mont-
gomery County, and two by the Board of County Commissioners of
Prince George's County. All serve four-year terms. When the
Commission was organized, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Dis-
trict had an area of 94 square miles. In succeeding years the General
Assembly has made additions, and the District now contains 326
square miles within Prince George's and Montgomery counties ad-
jacent to the District of Columbia. The present Sanitary District
has an estimated population of over 500,000 and an assessed valua-
tion of $1,238,053,863.

The Commission provides for the construction and the operation
of the water supply and sewerage systems, has jurisdiction over storm
drainage, plumbing, and the location of utilities, and provides refuse
disposal service within the Sanitary District. It also operates a
refuse collection service in the suburban portion of Montgomery
County. As of December 31, 1956, the water and sewerage systems
of the Commission contained 1,332 and 1,111 miles of mains
respectively.

The main source of water supply of the Sanitary District is the
Patuxent River, which the Commission has impounded by the con-
struction of dams near Brighton in Montgomery County and near
Laurel in Prince George's County. With the completion of the dam
at Laurel, the Washington Suburban Sanitary District has an assured
yield from the Patuxent River of slightly over 40 million gallons
daily. The Commission also obtains a portion of its water supply
from the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River, which water is
treated in a rapid sand filtration plant at Burnt Mills. It has a third
source of supply from deep wells at Forest Heights in the southern
portion of the District. This underground supply will yield at pres-
ent 1.4 million gallons daily.

At the present time sewage is discharged into the District of
Columbia sewerage system for treatment at the District of Columbia
Sewage Treatment Plant at Blue Plains. An incinerator located at
Lyttonsville in Montgomery County and a sanitary landfill at Ana-
costia River Park in Prince George's County dispose of refuse.

The construction operations of the Commission are financed from
proceeds of bonds retired with funds from several sources. The gen-
eral construction bonds are retired by front foot benefit charges and
ad valorem taxes. Bonds for major water and sewer construction are
retired from water consumption and sewerage usage charges respec-
tively. .Refuse incinerator bonds are retired from receipts of the
refuse service, and storm water drainage bonds are retired from ad
valorem tax receipts.

(Acts 1918, chap. 122; Acts 1920, chap. 518; Acts 1924, chaps. 189,
180, 252, 469; Acts 1927, chaps. 506, 507; Acts 1931, chaps. 232, 622;
Acts 1935, chap. 697; Acts 1937, chaps. 45, 140, 296, 389, 391; Acts
1939, chaps. 193, 253, 257, 266, 540; Acts 1941, chaps. 280, 668, 802,
892; Acts 1943, chaps. 460, 451, 468, 620, 622, 524, 525, 626, 993;
Acts 1945, chaps. 917, 1024, 1029; Acts 1947, chaps. 143, 361, 362,
363, 365, 732, 733, 734, 736, 739, 820; Acts 1947, (Sp. Sess.) chap. 66;
Acts 1948 (Sp. Sess.) chap. 57; Acts 1949, chaps. 342, 637, 538, 539,
541, 728; Acts 1960, chaps. 92, 93, 94; Acts 1951, chaps. 100, 376, 384,
385, 562, 563, 691; Acts 1952, J.R. 6; Acts 1963, chaps. 183, 349, 350,
352, 353, 354, 366, 356, 367, 368, 366, 374, 386, 430, 434, 521, 522,
626, 666, 786; Acts 1965, chaps. 78, 79, 117, 118. 154, 231, 266, 356-368,