About Us

With a history dating to 1774 when the Moravians of Salem began work on one of the nation's first water systems, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Utilities provides high quality water, wastewater and solid waste services to approximately 377,000 residential, business and industrial users in its service area. The department is committed to responsible use of resources, reliable delivery and stewardship of the environment.

WSFC Utilities operates one landfill for solid waste, another for construction and demolition debris, and two yard waste facilities.

Three water treatment plants have a combined capacity of 91 million gallons a day, drawn from the Yadkin River and Salem Lake. In 2022, these plants treated and pumped a total of 13.98 billion gallons of water that met or surpassed all state and federal standards for drinking water quality. The water distribution system includes more than 2,300 miles of water distribution mains, 14 water tanks and seven pumping stations.

The department also operates two wastewater treatment plants with a combined treatment capacity of 51 million gallons per day. The collection system includes nearly 1,800 miles of sewer lines and 45 lift stations. The plants treated 12.5 billion gallons of wastewater in 2022.

A workforce of 380 employees operates and maintains WSFC Utilities, which is not funded through taxes, but by water and wastewater user fees and landfill tipping fees.

WSFC Utilities is dedicated to proactively safeguarding public health and complies with all North Carolina Clean Water Act regulations as well as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits that regulate the operation of treatment plants.

See our annual reports
View our 2020-2024 Strategic Plan