Location

51 N Street, NE, 5th Floor
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 535-2190

Mission

The mission of the Water Quality Division is to restore and protect the surface and ground waters of the District of Columbia.

Program Description

The Program was established under the authorities of the DC Water Pollution Control Act and the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The program has three principal components:

• Water Quality Control
  The Water Quality Control component fulfills the function of policy planning as well as regulatory control. In addition, it conducts special studies on pollutant fate and transport to identify probable sources and impacts, river/stream sediment and water column quality not covered by ambient monitoring, wet weather non-point source runoff quantity and quality, and discharge-related facility inspections. It also tracks permit violations.
• Water Quality Monitoring
  Water Quality Monitoring functions encompass waterbody assessment; collection of ambient water quality data; periodic fish tissue analysis for parameters of concern such as PCB, chlordane, and DDT; periodic submerged aquatic vegetation survey; and bioassessment of wetlands and river fringes.
• Environmental Laboratory
  The Environmental Laboratory is charged with the analysis of samples for a variety of chemical parameters