DC Water & Sewer Authority

DC Water & Sewer Authority, doing business as Dcwasa, a U.S. local government entity headquartered in Washington, DC, provides water distribution, wastewater collection, stormwater management, and regulatory compliance services to federal agencies and facilities as a prime contractor and grant recipient. Dcwasa does not hold SBA certifications or set-aside designations; it operates as the District's primary municipal utility and competes full-and-open across federal customers, with work spanning utility service contracts, blanket purchase agreements, and infrastructure grant programs funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Dcwasa's federal footprint is concentrated in routine utility services to Washington, DC-based federal facilities. On the contract side, Dcwasa delivers quarterly water, sewer, and stormwater fees to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (46 awards, $6.3 million combined potential value), the Internal Revenue Service (16 awards, $142 thousand), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (9 awards, $842 thousand), the Smithsonian Institution (10 awards, $1.4 million), and the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network 5 (8 awards, $1.8 million). Representative contract work includes a $1.43 million FY 2026 water services delivery to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's District Currency Facility (December 2025 purchase order), a $145 thousand FY 2026 water and sewer interagency agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (October 2025 purchase order), and a $423.6 thousand FY 2023 court-wide water utility contract (October 2022 purchase order) to an unnamed federal court system. Dcwasa holds two active blanket purchase agreements with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BPA 2031ZA19A00006, 19 task orders, $148 thousand combined potential value, running through October 2029) and the Office of Personnel Management (IDC 24322620D0003, 4 task orders, $25 thousand), structured as single-award vehicles for routine utility billing and compliance fees.

Grant work dominates Dcwasa's recent obligated dollars. The Environmental Protection Agency Region 3 has awarded Dcwasa more than 80 formula grants totaling in excess of $100 million under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (CFDA 66.468), the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Small and Underserved Communities Emerging Contaminants program (CFDA 66.442), and the Construction Grants for Wastewater Treatment Works program (CFDA 66.418). Representative EPA grant awards include a $24.7 million Drinking Water State Revolving Fund grant (October 2025) for lead service line replacement through the District's Lead Pipe Replacement Assistance Program and House by House Program; a $16.1 million grant (October 2025) for lead service line identification and removal across all eight wards; a $16.45 million Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation grant (October 2024) for replacement of 5.54 miles of unlined cast iron water mains in disadvantaged neighborhoods to address Legionella contamination; and a $28.65 million Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grant (September 2023) to replace approximately 1,600 lead service lines and conduct 3,000 exploratory test pits. Dcwasa receives these grants as prime recipient without sub-awardees; grant work runs through 2032 on some awards and supports lead remediation, water main rehabilitation, and wastewater system upgrades district-wide.

Contract activity has remained flat to declining — four awards in 2021 scaled to a peak of 16 in 2023 but fell to 14 in 2025 — while obligated grant dollars have grown substantially. Eleven contract and service awards (combined potential value $1.7 million) reach ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months and face recompete. Dcwasa also acts as a sub-recipient on federal grants managed by the District of Columbia Government, receiving pass-through funding for COVID-19 response costs, floodwall construction at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, and stormwater outreach initiatives. The vendor's federal award portfolio reflects its statutory role as Washington, DC's water utility; competition is non-existent on utility service contracts (no set-asides apply, no bidding occurs), and federal exposure is geographically and functionally limited to District facilities and EPA infrastructure grants supporting the District's drinking water and wastewater systems.