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Although Rockville residents may not be able to see the results of the $1.7 million in federal stimulus dollars invested in their water treatment plant, they should be able to taste it every time they turn on the tap.

Flanked by Mayor Phyllis R. Marcuccio and City Council members Bridget D. Newton and Piotr Gajewski, U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Water Subcommittee, toured the plant on the banks of the Potomac River on Friday afternoon.

Cardin was instrumental in acquiring grant money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was used to improve the plant's energy efficiency and upgrade aging components.

"What's being done here is important to the City of Rockville," Cardin said. "A lot of people in Rockville take it for granted that they can turn on the faucet and get clean drinking water."

About two-thirds of the city is served by the treatment facility, which pumps purified water from the Potomac River through six miles of pipes to Rockville.

The city is capable of storing 12 million gallons of water after it is pumped north from the treatment plant.

King Farm, one of Rockville's newer communities, and a few other parts of the city are served by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.

The efficiency improvements will save the facility between $50,000 and $75,000 per year, Cardin said.

Marcuccio said she has an appreciation for a well-run treatment plant because she grew up in East Rockville near the "noisy" pump house used for the original water system installed in the city.

She called the improvements to the treatment plant "essential to the city."

The city contributed approximately $540,000 on top of the $1.7 million to the improvements.

Construction, which is being handled by CPP Construction of Gaithersburg, began in December and is expected to be finished by September.

There are six elements of the project, which include rebuilding two raw water pumps, installing a variable control system on the pumps, replacing an air conditioning unit with a more efficient unit, installing power monitors and adding motion-sensitive lighting.

Rebecca Wodder, president of the conservation group American Rivers, presented Cardin with the River Champion Award.

She said the award is given to a member of congress who works toward increasing the amount of money in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act allotted for water-related projects.

A total of $6 billion was allocated in the stimulus bill for water quality projects, with $121.6 million going to Maryland, Cardin's office reported.