Loudoun Water has opened a new state-of-the-art water treatment plant and, for the first time, is assuming responsibility for processing all of the water that eventually comes out of county residents’ taps.

After years of purchasing treated Potomac River water from Fairfax Water, and supplementing it by treating water from Goose Creek, Loudoun is tapping the Potomac, and is no longer supplying water from Goose Creek.

The opening of the Trap Rock Water Treatment Facility came on the 60th anniversary of Loudoun Water, which was founded as the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority in May 1959.

The utility developed the Potomac Water Supply Program to guide its use and preservation of the natural resource.

The D.C. metropolitan area relies on the Potomac River to supply approximately three-quarters of the area’s water, according to the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. The Washington Aqueduct, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission and Fairfax Water all take-in water from the Potomac.