Loudoun Water

The following is excerpted from various Loudoun Water reports:

Loudoun Water is very much a reflection of its past, present and future. It buys water, treats its own water, manages the small water systems of semirural hamlets and provides reclaimed and potable water to the industrial demand of data center alley.

 Loudoun Water central system delivers water to its customers through a water distribution system consisting of 1,467 miles of water mains and 8 storage tanks with a storage capacity of over 18 million gallons. Loudoun Water currently purchases the majority of its drinking water from Fairfax Water which supplies approximately 18 million gallons per day (MGD).

The remainder of the water is supplied by the Trap Rock Water Treatment Plant drawn from the Potomac River. In the case of need Loudoun Water can also draw from Goose Creek Reservoir. The Trap Rock Water treatment plant is part of Loudoun Water’s Potomac Water Supply Program (PWSP). This includes an intake on the Potomac River, transmission lines, quarry storage and the treatment plant. The new plant has the ability to produce up to 20 MGD. Trap Rock became fully operational in January 2019 and currently produces approximately 10 MGD. As demands on the Loudoun Water system increase, it is currently assumed that the additional water will be purchased from Fairfax Water, as Loudoun Water anticipates continuing to operate Trap Rock at 10 MGD in the immediate future.

The cost of purchasing wholesale water from Fairfax County Water Authority (FCWA) has increased substantially over the past few years with the cost of purchased water increasing 42% between 2021 and 2024.  Loudoun Water will be increasing their water rates about 7% a year over the next few years to keep up with the costs of operating the system.

Loudoun Water also provides reclaimed water to data center customers located within the reclaimed water service area. The reclaimed water is produced at the Broad Run Water Reclamation Facility. The reclaimed water is distributed through a distribution system consisting of 22 miles of reclaimed mains. The reclaimed water system has delivered an average day amount of approximately 2.1 MGD of reclaimed water during 2024. It is anticipated that the volume of reclaimed water will grow to 3 million gallons a day on average in the next four years.

Loudoun Water also sells finished drinking water to data centers. It was reported that in 2023 Loudoun Water sold an average of 2.46 million gallons of water a day to data centers and that just keeps growing faster than the reclaimed water which is limited by location.

Loudoun Water has also taken over management of several community water systems. Community Water and Wastewater Systems are free-standing water and wastewater systems that generally draw from groundwater and utilize packaged waste systems. They are not connected to the central system. The community systems are: Beacon Hill, Creighton Farms, Selma Estates, The Reserve at Rokeby, and Village Green at Elysian Heights.

Loudoun Water Service Area