The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission is a non-profit, public utility. Our rates produce only the revenues needed to support services and operations. The Annotated Code of Maryland authorizes the account maintenance fee, to defray the expenses and overhead associated with maintaining an account. These expenses include the cost of purchasing and reading meters; processing readings; generating and mailing bills; collecting payments; and providing customer services. Customer services include:

Providing agents to answer telephone, written, and in-person inquiries;
Repairing and replacing meters; and
Maintaining meter pits.

The account maintenance fee ensures that revenue will be received to cover the cost of customer services and meter maintenance. The fee increases as the meter size does because it is more costly to purchase and maintain larger meters.

The amount charged varies according to meter size. The account maintenance for residential customers is $44 each year, or $11 each quarter. This $11 fee fully recovers our current maintenance costs associated with a customer's account. The fee appears on each regular monthly, quarterly, or biannual bill; it does not apply to submeters or interconnect meters. Miscellaneous Fees Page