WSSC Proposes 7.25 Percent Rate Increase

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission is proposing a 7.25 percent rate increase for water and sewer use in Montgomery County, according to a news release from the county council's office.

On Monday, April 15, at 9:30 a.m., the Montgomery County Council's Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee, chaired by Councilmember Roger Berliner, will review WSSC's operating budget request. Councilmembers Nancy Floreen and Hans Riemer are also on the committee.

The budget request comes as an investigation examines the cause of a massive water main break on Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase on March 18.

Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission engineers still do not know what caused the break, but they say that the fiber optic monitoring system installed in the pipes in 2010 did not fail, Bethesda Now reported.

The design of the pipe segment that broke "affects 700 to 800 other pieces of pipe throughout Montgomery and Prince George’s counties,"  said Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission chief engineer Gary Gumm, The Washington Post reported.

A full forensic report on what caused the water main to break is expected in June, Bethesda Now added.