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  • DC Water officials say section of Potomac River expected to reopen soon after spill – WTOP News

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    Officials said during a town hall in Southeast D.C. that bacteria levels are dropping to the point that people will be allowed back onto the river for recreational purposes next week.

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    DC Water officials say section of Potomac River expected to reopen soon after spill

    A standing room-only crowd heard from D.C. Water and other officials about the huge Potomac Interceptor sewer spill that resulted in more than 240 million gallons of highly polluted water getting into the Potomac River near Cabin John, Maryland.

    Officials say during the meeting at D.C. Water’s headquarters in Southeast D.C. that bacteria levels are dropping to the point that people will be allowed back onto the river for recreational purposes next week.

    D.C.’s Health Director Ayanna Bennett said regular bacteria testing shows levels are dropping and in the District section of the river restrictions will be relaxed so boaters, rowers and others can go back onto the water.

    “In the D.C. waters we consider it safe for you to have contact with the Potomac and that advisory will be announced as lifted on March 2,” she told the audience.

    “So, we are going to lift our advisory about contact with the Potomac in the D.C. waters.”

    While many people expressed relief that some restrictions on contact with the river are being loosened, D.C. Water officials insist because of the location of the main break, and their actions in the day’s aftermath, the city’s water supply remains safe to drink and no sewage has been released into the river for two weeks.

    D.C. Water CEO David Gadis said the break on the 54-mile pipe that runs from Dulles International Airport in Virginia to the District shows how fragile aging infrastructure can fail.

    “We are committed to looking at all sections of the pipe at the Potomac Interceptor. And also reevaluating their structural and integrity to ensure an event like this does not happen again,” he said.

    Repairs to the sewer line will cost at least $20 million. It’s not clear how the cost will be covered and how much the federal government will cover.

    D.C. Water chief operating officer Matt Brown said the damage sustained on the roughly 60-year-old sewer line showed the vulnerability of the region’s infrastructure.

    “We have some very, very old brick line sewers that are in really good shape and then we have some newer sewers that have some corrosion,” Brown said.

    Many in the audience included D.C. officials, neighborhood advisory commission members, along with some people who depend on the Potomac River for their livelihoods.

    Capt. Tim Blanchard, owner of Fish The Potomac, told the audience that his business had been heavily affected by the spill.

    “We’ve been shut down ever since,” he said, explaining that his plans to expand his operations have been temporarily on hold until the river situation stabilizes.

    But Blanchard said he’s relieved that the advisory could be lifted soon.

    “I’m just excited to get out there and fish again,” he added.

    The meeting was the first of at least two planned town hall-style events to give the public more information about the spill and its cleanup. A second town hall is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland.

    D.C. Water crews have put in place a temporary bypass system, and they say they’ve added additional backup measures to prevent overflow events from taking place while the emergency repairs are underway.

    The utility said since Feb. 8 no additional polluted water has entered the river. Crews are removing rocks and debris from the collapsed section of pipe, and emergency repairs are projected to be completed by mid-March.

    Residents heard from D.C. Water for updates on the Potomac Interceptor sewer spill that resulted in more than 240 million gallons of highly polluted water getting into the Potomac River.
    (WTOP/Dan Ronan)

    WTOP/Dan Ronan

    D.C. Water said it plans to reopen a stretch of the Potomac for recreational use.
    (WTOP/Dan Ronan)

    WTOP/Dan Ronan

    Officials say during the meeting at D.C. Water’s headquarters in Southeast D.C. that bacteria levels are dropping.
    (WTOP/Dan Ronan)

    WTOP/Dan Ronan

    While many people expressed relief that some restrictions on contact with the river are being loosened, D.C. Water officials insist because of the location of the main break, and their actions in the day’s aftermath, the city’s water supply remains safe to drink.
    (WTOP/Dan Ronan)

    WTOP/Dan Ronan

    Repairs to the sewer line will cost at least $20 million. It’s not clear how the cost will be covered and how much the federal government will cover.
    (WTOP/Dan Ronan)

    WTOP/Dan Ronan

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    Dan Ronan

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  • DC provides clearer picture of limited federal help for Potomac Interceptor repair – WTOP News

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    D.C. officials said they’re getting a clearer picture of how much federal help will be available as crews continue repairing the collapsed Potomac Interceptor.

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    Massive sewage spill flowing into Potomac River upstream from Washington

    District officials said they’re getting a clearer picture of how much federal help will be available as crews continue repairing the collapsed Potomac Interceptor, which has dropped millions of gallons of sewage in the river since it ruptured in January.

    During an update on repairs from D.C. Water, D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Director Clint Osborn said the current federal emergency declaration does not allow the District or D.C. Water to recoup money already spent on repairs.

    Osborn said early indications that the federal government would cover 75% of the total repair and cleanup were misunderstood. He said that percentage only applies when federal agencies directly perform work assigned through the emergency declaration, and does not cover the repair work D.C. Water is carrying out.

    “We’re going to continue to work through the preliminary damage assessment process with FEMA this week to determine whether we can convince FEMA and the White House to upgrade us to a major disaster declaration, which would get us reimbursement,” Osborn said.

    At the repair site, D.C. Water spokesperson Sherri Lewis said crews have expanded the excavation area to reach a large rock and debris blockage inside the pipe.

    Lewis said crews have removed a significant portion of the blockage.

    “We’ve removed sections of the pipe over the last couple of days, and so far, have removed about 45 feet of that rock and debris dam. We’re now down to maybe the last eight or 10 feet,” Lewis said.

    After the remaining debris is cleared, crews will clean the inside of the pipe, install steel reinforcement and apply geopolymer to rebuild the interior surface. Lewis said the geopolymer is put on in layers, and each layer needs time to cure until they achieve the needed thickness.

    Lewis said D.C. Water is still on track to finish the emergency repair by mid-March. She also said there have been no overflows into the Potomac River since Feb. 8 and that D.C. Water has added a 14th pump to strengthen the bypass system.

    Osborn said the Environment Protection Agency will help the District move from weekly to daily water testing by providing laboratory support.

    Lewis said downstream readings need to be viewed in the context of normal fluctuations that can be seen in the river, since any water quality spikes could simply be part of normal river behavior and not tied to the interceptor failure.

    “You have to be cognizant of the normal urban river environment before drawing any conclusions,” Lewis said.

    She also noted that federal officials have visited the site, including the EPA administrator and the secretary of the interior.

    Residents should stay away from the work zone, Lewis said, adding people have been walking toward the construction area from Clara Barton Parkway.

    D.C. Water also recently located an additional 2024 condition assessment of the pipe segment and is reviewing, it along with earlier reports.

    “We are committed to a rigorous review process of that and reviewing those facts, and we do plan on sharing what we learn fully once it’s evaluated,” Lewis said.

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    © 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Mike Murillo

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  • DC Del. Norton presses leader of Army Corps on search for backup water source – WTOP News

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    With one of the Potomac River’s drinking water intakes shut down after last month’s massive sewage spill, concerns are growing about how vulnerable the region is without a true secondary water source.

    With one of the Potomac River’s drinking water intakes shut down after last month’s massive sewage spill, concerns are growing about how vulnerable the D.C. region is without a true secondary water source.

    During a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing Tuesday, lawmakers pressed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to explain what’s being done to secure solid backup options for D.C.’s drinking water.

    The Washington Aqueduct remains the only source of drinking water for D.C., Arlington and parts of Fairfax County in Virginia, and D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said the region doesn’t have the resiliency it needs.

    “With only one day of backup water supply, man-made or natural events that make the river unusable would put residents, the District government and the regional economy at risk,” Norton said.

    Norton challenged the Corps after being told the study that Congress authorized to identify a secondary water source may be narrowed to only expanding existing storage.

    “Expansion of the reservoir is not a secondary water source,” Norton said.

    Lt. Gen. William H. “Butch” Graham Jr. told lawmakers the Corps is working on near‑term improvements, including adding storage at the existing Dalecarlia Reservoir, which is on federal land.

    “The expansion of the Dalecarlia Reservoir would add an additional 12 hours of supply. That’s a 33% increase that’s achievable near-term,” Graham said.

    Graham also said the search for longer-term alternate sources remains active, including the potential use of Travilah Quarry in Montgomery County as an additional reservoir. That comes despite indications from the Corps during a briefing to D.C. Water in February that the quarry may be off the table.

    “We are not limiting the scope of this study, but we are looking for early, actionable elements that we can put to make the resiliency of the city’s drinking water safer as soon as possible,” Graham said.

    Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle pointed to the recent spill as a reminder of why redundancy is critical for the region’s drinking water system.

    “This challenge in the Potomac River is one of the greatest ecological disasters of its type to ever occur in our nation,” Telle said. “We share your goal to ensure that the Washington, D.C. water supply is has the necessary redundancies, given that the seat of government is here in Washington. It’s a critically important goal.”

    He added that ensuring the capital’s water supply has the necessary backup is both a public‑safety and national‑security priority.

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    © 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Mike Murillo

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  • DC Water says Potomac Interceptor repairs are progressing as Army Corps bolsters site protection – WTOP News

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    D.C. Water said repairs to the collapsed Potomac Interceptor are still moving forward, with help now from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

    Work to repair the collapsed section of the Potomac Interceptor is moving ahead, and with help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, D.C. Water crews are working to stay on track toward restoring full flow by mid-March.

    Sherri Lewis, a spokesperson for D.C. Water, said the water utility company has now gone more than two weeks without wastewater reaching the river.

    “Today is actually the 15th day that we’re going into without any overflows,” Lewis said during a news briefing on Monday.

    Lewis said crews had been working inside the damaged pipe for days, clearing out debris.

    “We’ve had our crews actually inside the damaged section of the pipe, removing large rocks and debris,” she said.

    Once the debris was out and engineers could get a closer look, Lewis said they realized the pipe walls were too unstable for workers to stay inside.

    “They have pretty much cleared out that site, and as we were able to better assess the condition of the pipe, the immediate pipe sections from where it collapsed, it was determined that pipe was too compromised and it was unsafe for us to have workers inside the pipe manually assisting in removing that rock dam,” she said.

    Lewis said with that safety concern, the team switched to a new approach, working to excavate a nearly 40-foot section between the damaged part of the pipe and “another access pit that we had created to access the Potomac Interceptor.”

    She added that crews will stabilize the area, install shoring supports and then cut into the top of the pipe so machinery can remove the remaining rock dam.

    Cost and repairs

    Lewis said the cost of both the repair and the environmental cleanup has now reached about $20 million.

    A federal emergency declaration, which came after a request from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser last week for federal help, triggered support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

    Col. Francis Pera, who leads the U.S. Army Corps’ Baltimore District, said they were notified Friday evening and arrived on site Saturday morning. He said they moved quickly to protect the repair work after stormwater from the American Legion Bridge and Clara Barton Parkway flooded the pumping area. They also worked to install several pumps by Sunday night.

    “We already had three of those pumps in operation, safeguarding the pumps that D.C. Water is using to bypass the break in the Potomac Interceptor,” Pera said.

    He said the Corps built a system to catch and divert stormwater from existing drainage areas, so it does not run across contaminated soil or overwhelm the bypass system.

    “We’re catching through natural drainage in those ponds, and then we’re just diverting them. So that is an effort that will stay as long as it is required,” Pera said.

    He also noted that the Corps’ work is aimed at helping D.C. Water keep to its schedule.

    “We get to keep D.C. Water on track. We don’t want to take them off their path to their mid-March completion date for this initial repair,” Pera said.

    Despite the collapse, Pera said the region’s drinking water remains safe.

    D.C. Water said once full flow is restored, crews can shut down the bypass and begin the full environmental restoration along the river, creek beds and the C&O Canal.

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    © 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Mike Murillo

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  • ‘This one will trickle down’: Va. lawmaker pushes for water testing in Potomac River sewage spill – WTOP News

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    A Virginia lawmaker is urging the state’s health department to take concrete steps to address the potential health risks linked to the sewage spilling into the Potomac River.

    This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury. 

    After a decrepit pipe burst in Maryland last month and sent hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage spewing into the Potomac River, a Virginia lawmaker is now urging the state’s health department to take concrete steps to address the environmental disaster’s potential health risks to residents.

    “This one will trickle down over time, and I’m very worried about the contamination as it goes,” Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George, said in an interview Friday.

    The DC Water system owns the pipe that broke in Montgomery County, Maryland on Jan. 19 and leaked over 243 million gallons of sewage into the waterway. The agency estimates it will take about six weeks for a temporary fix on the pipe – and nine months for a permanent solution.

    Meanwhile, the Virginia Department of Health has issued a recreational advisory for 72.5 miles of the Virginia coast along the river, urging people to avoid touching the water and to be cautious when preparing seafood harvested from the river.

    VDH has not issued any warnings for drinking water and Maryland has issued a shellfish closure only for the Port Tobacco River region down to the Harry W. Nice Bridge.

    After one of his constituents asked VDH about potential contamination, Stuart said he was concerned to learn that the agency was not testing the water given the magnitude of the spill.

    “VDH will not conduct water sampling. The agency does not operate a freshwater bacterial monitoring program for recreational waters, and the Potomac River falls under Maryland’s jurisdiction for water quality oversight,” VDH’s Feb. 14 letter read.

    Stuart then sent his own letter to State Health Commissioner Dr. B. Cameron Webb.

    “Virginians who fish, crab, boat, and recreate on the Potomac deserve proactive protection and transparency, not a declaration that no testing will occur because another state holds primary authority,” Stuart wrote to Webb on Wednesday. “Furthermore, there are miles of creeks and tributaries branching off the Potomac River that are unquestionably Virginia waters, directly impacting the health of our marine resources and shoreline communities that I represent.”

    By Friday, Stuart said, the state’s top environmental agency had taken preliminary steps to test state waters.

    “I have since learned that (Department of Environmental Quality) is engaged, and they are doing sampling in various places. They were sampling on the edge,” Stuart said Friday. “I asked them if they would please go out into the channel and do various water columns to determine if it’s on the top.”

    The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said in a statement that on Tuesday, the agency collected 25 surface water samples across the recreational advisory area from above the sewer line break to Potomac Creek in Stafford County. The results of those samples are pending.

    The agency also said VDH staff “conducted a routine seawater sampling run for shellfish growing areas from Colonial Beach to the 301 (Harry Nice) Bridge, collecting 36 water samples in total. Based on their laboratory analyses, there were no elevated fecal coliform bacteria concentrations, with the vast majority of the samples at or below the detection limit for the test.”

    VDH replied to Stuart on Wednesday in a letter obtained by The Mercury.

    “We will continue sharing information, including sample results, between VDH, DEQ, Alex Renew, DC Water, MDE and VDEM. VDH staff are also maintaining communication with seafood industry stakeholders and watermen to provide timely, accurate information,” Lance Gregory, Director of VDH’s Office of Environmental Health Services, wrote.

    Gregory also said that the agency, in partnership with the Marine Advisory Board, “developed a mapping resource that illustrates the spill’s geographic scope relative to other productive waterways in the Commonwealth. This tool supports affected watermen in communicating clearly about the limited proximity of the incident to other harvesting areas and helps preserve confidence in Virginia seafood.”

    The state’s chief executive also weighed in on the disaster on Friday and said the state’s drinking water is safe.

    “I’m encouraged that EPA and FEMA have begun coordinating with DC Water to respond to the sewage spill in the Potomac,” Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in a statement. “Amid the response, our state agencies are conducting water quality testing and monitoring the status of repairs. Our focus is on Virginians’ health and safety. Virginians should know that the spill is not impacting our drinking water.”

    Members of Virginia’s congressional delegation, along with Maryland officials, have written to DC water about their concerns over the health and environmental impacts of the spill. Still, Stuart is pushing for the state to do more.

    “Maryland owns the Potomac, but a lot of people in Virginia make their (livelihood) on it, and we eat a lot of the seafood that comes out of it. It’s a very productive river, despite how badly we treated it over the years,” Stuart said.

    Conservation group Potomac Riverkeepers Network agrees with the senator that this extreme of a situation calls for different approaches on how to handle it.

    “The historic sewage spill and the ongoing risk of intermittent overflows demands a departure from the status quo,” said David Flores, the Vice President of the Potomac Riverkeepers Network. “Virginians deserve more, not less, water quality monitoring and long-term assessments to protect their safety and the Commonwealth’s natural resources. This responsibility should not be deferred to another state.”

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    Gaby Arancibia

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  • Who foots the $20M bill of the Potomac River sewage cleanup, repairs? – WTOP News

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    The cost of cleaning up and making repairs after a sewer line failure sent hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River will total around $20 million.

    The cost of cleaning up and making repairs after a sewer line failure sent hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River will total about $20 million, the CEO of D.C. Water said Friday.

    David Gadis provided the estimate during a briefing on the Jan. 19 failure of the Potomac Interceptor, a roughly 60-year-old, 54-mile long sewer line. The pipe failed in Cabin John, Maryland.

    It’s not entirely clear how the cost will be covered.

    Earlier this week, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser submitted a Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration request, seeking full reimbursement for costs incurred by both D.C. and D.C. Water.

    “We expect 100% reimbursement,” Bowser said.

    But D.C. Water’s facilities, including the Potomac Interceptor, are funded through an intermunicipal agreement, or IMA. Maryland and Virginia would be on the hook for more than 50% of the cost, per the agreement.

    So will the federal government approve D.C.’s request? And if so, will Maryland and Virginia’s share be covered too?

    District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser attends at a news conference regarding the Potomac Interceptor break, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

    “If the president wants to help Americans who deserve to know that the Potomac River is safe, it doesn’t matter, in my estimation, if it comes through D.C. to D.C. Water, because D.C. Water serves D.C., Maryland and Virginia. It’s kind of hard to parse it out,” Bowser said. “We are happy to be the conduit for the region.”

    President Donald Trump also weighed in this week on social media, saying the three jurisdictions needed to work collaboratively. He called out Maryland Gov. Wes Moore by name.

    “If they can’t do the job, they have to call me and ask, politely, to get it fixed,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding the federal government “can fix it.”

    According to D.C. Water, the utility’s customers will not face any additional financial strain as a result of the sewage spill. Gadis said there would be no rate increase tied to the incident, and that the utility had already submitted planned rate increases for the future.

    Officials also stressed during Friday’s briefing that drinking water was not affected, but said people should avoid recreational contact with the river as a precaution.

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    Thomas Robertson

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  • DC mayor on request for federal assistance with sewer line repairs: ‘We’re different’ – WTOP News

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    D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser indicated she’s working to not only mitigate the impact of a massive sewage spill in the Potomac River, but to protect District residents from footing the bill.

    D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser indicated she’s working to not only mitigate the impact of a massive sewage spill in the Potomac River, but to protect District residents from footing the bill to repair D.C. Water’s wastewater pipeline.

    A segment of D.C. Water’s Potomac Interceptor collapsed last month, leading to one of the worst sewage spills in the nation’s history.

    During a news conference for the groundbreaking of a new recreation center in Southeast D.C. on Thursday, Bowser was asked about how the cost of making repairs to the Potomac Interceptor, a pipe that carries wastewater to the city, would be covered.

    “This is a D.C. Water asset,” Bowser said initially. “D.C. Water is responsible for fixing its pipe.”

    The spill was caused by break in a 72-inch-wide segment of the 60-year-old pipeline, shooting millions of gallons of sewage out of the ground and into the river.

    However, Bowser has asked the federal government to assist in the cleanup and repairs — a move that came after President Donald Trump criticized regional officials for their response to the break, which happened in mid-January.

    Bowser said D.C. Water has spent billions of dollars on its infrastructure, and along with distributing drinking water to District residents, provides wastewater services to parts of Maryland and Virginia.

    “We’re different. We are the nation’s capital, and so we think that there is a role for the federal government in speeding up those investments” in the system’s infrastructure, Bowser said.

    She bristled at one reporter’s question on whether the D.C. government took the sewage spill “seriously” in the days following the pipeline’s collapse last month.

    “I have to correct you,” Bowser said. “We’ve always taken it seriously.”

    The initial break sent millions of gallons of sewage flowing into the Potomac River until crews were able to come up with a system to funnel the leaking wastewater into the C&O Canal, allowing it to bypass the Potomac River and be channeled back into the Interceptor.

    Bowser said D.C. has an emergency management response structure, including a number of offices and agencies in D.C. government.

    “I’m at the top of that structure,” Bowser said.

    She added that when it came to the District’s emergency declaration: “This one is a little bit different, because the lead responding agency is not a D.C. government agency, but a quasi-government agency.”

    According to the D.C. Water website, the agency has been in contact with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the District Department of Energy and the Environment, the Maryland Governor’s Office and other regional officials as the repairs continue.

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    Kate Ryan

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  • DC mayor declares public emergency, requests federal support in Potomac River sewage leak – WTOP News

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    Mayor Muriel Bowser has issued a request for federal support and is seeking reimbursement for costs to D.C. and its agencies dealing with a ruptured pipe that has dumped millions of gallons of wastewater into the Potomac River.

    Mayor Muriel Bowser has issued a request for federal support and is seeking reimbursement for costs to D.C. and its agencies dealing with a ruptured pipe that has dumped over 200 million gallons of wastewater into the Potomac River.

    Bowser declared a public emergency Wednesday night, saying that D.C. agencies have coordinated to manage the incident under the District Emergency Operations Plan.

    “The main piece of that is that the District is requesting reimbursement for costs that have been incurred by the District and D.C. Water, for both the repairs that are going on and remediation,” D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah said during a news briefing Wednesday.

    In the mayor’s request for federal support, she asked for “100% reimbursement for costs incurred” by the District and D.C. Water.

    Appiah added that city government has been coordinating support from federal agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency.

    D.C.’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency has been working since Feb. 6 to conduct water testing, provide guidance to the community, coordinate with other agencies and evaluate the economic impacts, according to the mayor’s emergency declaration.

    “We’re making the specific requests that we know that the District needs to ensure the safety of our waterways,” Appiah said. “Federal entities do exist to support this type of activity, and District residents deserve that.”

    Appiah said federal agencies and President Donald Trump’s administration have been “operating within their lane,” but the D.C. government is in a unique position where they “often have to coordinate lots of federal entities.”

    “One of the reasons that the mayor has made the decision to make this request of a presidential declaration is because it allows the president to really direct FEMA to provide those funds, and that’s a little bit different than kind of the normal grant process of determining what jurisdictions are going to get,” Appiah said.

    When asked why the request is coming now, about a month after the pipe broke, Appiah said the decision was based on ongoing assessments of what would help the city speed up repairs and cleanup, especially with spring approaching and more people expected to use water recreationally.

    Appiah, who is the acting incident commander in this case, said city agencies and regional partners in Maryland and Virginia are working to respond to the incident, calling it a regional effort.

    “It’s a regional system and a regional response,” she said.

    Lawmakers in neighboring Maryland — where the section of the sewer pipe broke along Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County — sent a letter to D.C. Water on Wednesday, pushing for an environmental remediation plan that includes continued testing and an evaluation for human impact.

    In the letter to D.C. Water, congressional lawmakers from Maryland and Virginia have also called for a strong environmental remediation plan, public briefings and vigilant monitoring of bacteria.

    The lawmakers requested that DC Water provide regular updates on the state of repairs, work on a comprehensive assessment and “commit to sustained water quality monitoring well into the spring.”

    President Trump said Monday he is directing federal authorities to step in to coordinate the response and protect the region’s water supply. In a post on social media, he faulted Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and other “local Democrat leaders” who he said have “mismanaged” the “ecological disaster.”

    Moore pushed back, saying the president has been responsible for the Potomac Interceptor sewer line for decades, adding that the Trump administration has failed to act for the last four weeks and has put people’s lives at risk.

    Local reporter Martin Austermuhle with the 51st told WTOP’s Nick Iannelli on Wednesday night that the mayor’s request opens “the spigot of federal funding.”

    “That could be for everything from actual fixes that D.C. Water is doing on the sewage pipe to any sort of impacts that local businesses in the District could suffer,” he said.

    As of Wednesday morning, D.C. Water has installed six of seven high-capacity pumps, a few hundred yards above the collapse site, under the exit ramp off the American Legion Bridge onto the Clara Barton Parkway.

    The pumps are diverting sewage from above the collapse point to an isolated section of the C&O Canal, to bypass the break, before being steered back into the Interceptor below the damaged pipe.

    This week, after blocking wastewater flow to the collapse site, D.C. Water will finally be able to see the extent of the damage, remove the rock dam and replace the pipe. The utility estimated it will be 4 to 6 weeks until normal flow is returned to the Interceptor.

    “They’re just realizing how serious the situation is. And the more cynical way to look at it is that the president made a very loud case this week that something needs to be done, and the mayor is responding,” Austermuhle said of the seemingly late response from the Bowser administration.

    Austermuhle noted that there have long been health advisories surrounding D.C.’s river, but ” this is much more significant than that.”

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    Ciara Wells

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  • DC Water looks toward long-term cleanup of C&O Canal, Potomac River – WTOP News

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    Later this week, DC Water expects to begin excavating near the collapsed section of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line to assess the damage to the pipe and remove boulders wedged inside. At the same time, plans for long-term cleanup are coming together. 

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    See what’s keeping sewage spill away from Potomac River

    D.C. Water is making long-term plans to cleanup land near the C&O Canal — as well as the Potomac River. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)

    Later this week, D.C. Water expects to begin excavating near the collapsed section of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line, to assess the damage to the pipe and remove boulders wedged inside.

    At the same time, plans for long-term cleanup are coming together.

    It’s been about a month since the Jan. 19 break, which spilled millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the Potomac River. The utility is prioritizing emergency repairs and beginning to develop long-term plans to clean up land near the C&O Canal — as well as the Potomac River.

    As of Wednesday morning, D.C. Water has installed six of seven high-capacity pumps, a few hundred yards above the collapse site, under the exit ramp off the American Legion Bridge onto the Clara Barton Parkway.

    The pumps are diverting sewage from above the collapse point to an isolated section of the C&O Canal, to bypass the break, before being steered back into the Interceptor below the damaged pipe.

    This week, after blocking wastewater flow to the collapse site, D.C. Water will finally be able to see the extent of the damage, remove the rock dam and replace the pipe. The utility estimated it will be 4 to 6 weeks until normal flow is returned to the Interceptor.

    “I think the best thing D.C. Water can do right now is to get that emergency repair done, so that we eliminate the risk of overflow, and can eliminate the use of that bypass system,” said D.C. Water spokeswoman Sherri Lewis, echoing the priorities of CEO David Gadis, in a Feb. 11 open letter.

    Nearby, the smell of sewage is obvious, and visual evidence of the spill, including toilet paper, hangs on underbrush in the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

    “This is one of the areas, obviously, that we are working on, as far as our environmental restoration plans,” Lewis said.

    “We’re working with our federal, state and local regulators on what that environmental restoration plan will entail, and we’ll start that work as soon as we get that plan approved, and we’ll certainly release that to the public.”

    Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will play a key role in coordinating the response.

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    Neal Augenstein

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  • Watch: See what’s keeping sewage spill away from the Potomac River – WTOP News

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    In the month since a major section of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line collapsed near the Clara Barton Parkway, spilling hundreds of millions of untreated into the Potomac River, D.C. Water is nearing a crucial point in the recovery process.

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    See what’s keeping sewage spill away from Potomac River

    In the month since a major section of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line collapsed near the Clara Barton Parkway, spilling hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the Potomac River, D.C. Water is nearing a crucial point in the recovery process.

    Five high-capacity pumps have been installed to facilitate the utility’s near-term goal of reaching the break in the massive sewer pipe and removing boulders wedged inside the broken Interceptor.

    The bypass pumps will increase D.C. Water’s ability to divert sewage upstream of the pipe collapse into an isolated section of the C&O Canal.

    A few hundred yards downstream, D.C. Water has installed three wastewater flumes that steer the sewage from the canal back into the Interceptor for the duration of its trip to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.

    Later this week, after a steel bulkhead is completed and the pump system is coordinated and checked, D.C. Water spokeswoman Sherri Lewis said the goal is to drop a gate to block sewage from entering the damaged section of pipe.

    “That’s going to keep that downstream section by the collapse site as dry as possible, so we can go in and safely remove the rock dam that is blocking our access to the damaged section,” Lewis said.

    “Over the past week, we’ve brought in five more high-capacity pumps because we were facing challenges with wipes that were clogging the pumps,” she added. “And when they have to get taken out of service, particularly during a high-flow period, we run the risk of having an overflow situation and having that wastewater go into the Potomac.”

    Lewis said the extra pumps add redundancy to the system.

    “With all the pumps we have on site, once they are all in place and operational, we will have the ability to pump more than 100 million gallons a day, which is well over the capacity that flows through the Potomac Interceptor,” she said.

    With the pump bypass system diverting sewage temporarily into the C&O Canal, the utility company estimates it will take approximately four to six weeks to remove the boulders and replace the broken pipe.

    After the emergency work is completed, D.C. Water will accelerate a section of the planned rehabilitation of the Interceptor, which is scheduled to take approximately nine months.

    Lewis said the utility is already coordinating with other agencies about long-term cleanup plans to ensure human and environmental safety along the portion of the canal that has been used as the bypass; in addition to D.C. Water’s promises of doing what is necessary to ensure the health of the Potomac River.

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    Neal Augenstein

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  • Progress at Potomac sewer collapse but overflow risk remains, DC Water says – WTOP News

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    D.C. Water boosts pumping power and activates a third flume at the Potomac sewer break, but warns overflow risk remains until a rock dam is removed.

    D.C. Water is touting new pumping capacity and a third active flume as signs of progress at the site of the massive Potomac sewer pipe break, even as the utility warns the threat of another overflow won’t subside until a rock dam inside the damaged pipe is removed.

    D.C. Water said Sunday that crews increased pumping power and activated a third wastewater flume while preparing a steel bulkhead that would let crews reach and remove the rock obstruction inside the broken Potomac Interceptor.

    All four new high‑capacity bypass pumps recently installed are now fully primed and operational, which D.C. Water said boosts overall flow capacity and reliability as crews manage higher volumes tied to rainfall and melting snow and ice.

    The utility said the third flume near Lock 10 is now sending wastewater back into the interceptor, adding redundancy to the temporary bypass system.

    D.C. Water said three more bypass pumps have arrived on site and can be brought online later this week to add more capacity if needed.

    Fabrication of a steel bulkhead is nearly finished, with installation expected late next week. Once installed, D.C. Water said the bulkhead will block flow into the damaged section of pipe, allowing crews to stabilize surrounding ground, remove the rock dam inside the interceptor and begin permanent repair work.

    While the utility said there were no overflow events over the weekend that reached surface waters, it continues to warn that overflow potential remains until the obstruction is removed and typical flow conditions are restored.

    D.C. Water said it will continue to publish water‑quality sampling results online once available.

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    Matt Small

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  • Virginia health officials warn to avoid contact with Potomac River due to sewage spill – WTOP News

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    Three weeks after a 72-inch sewage pipe burst along the Clara Barton Parkway, the Virginia Department of Health issued a recreational water advisory Friday telling residents to avoid using D.C.’s main waterway.

    Do not go into the Potomac River.

    Three weeks after a 72-inch sewage pipe burst along the Clara Barton Parkway, the Virginia Department of Health issued a recreational water advisory Friday telling residents to avoid using D.C.’s main waterway.

    Hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac starting on Jan. 19 before crews were able to contain the overflow. The area of contamination was just inside the Beltway along the C&O Canal in Montgomery County, Maryland and extended into Virginia. It was considered the largest spill of wastewater in U.S. history.

    With reports of E. coli levels thousands of times higher than the recommended limit for human contact, VDH issued the advisory about river contamination along a 72.5 mile stretch that includes the Northern Virginia area of the Potomac.

    Cleanup is expected to take four to six weeks longer than anticipated and has been marred by setbacks.

    VDH says there is no evidence of impacts to drinking water at this time.

    The advisory says to prevent recreational water illnesses due to exposure to the sewage spill, people should avoid contact with water in the advisory area and should follow advice posted on signs near river access points.

    Residents also need to avoid any area of the water where you smell a foul odor or see dead or dying fish or discolored water. If you do come into contact, wash skin immediately with soap and water and wash any items that come into contact with the water, according to the advisory.

    “When harvesting fish or crabs, discard skin, organs, cook the meat to proper temperature, and clean cutting boards and cutting implements with warm soapy water,” the advisory states.

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    Diane Morris

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  • Massive sewage spill into Potomac River: What’s in the water, what are the risks rise as ice melts? – WTOP News

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    Questions are being raised about whether D.C. is downplaying the health risks and ongoing environmental damage caused by a sewage pipe that ruptured, sending millions of gallons of wastewater in the Potomac River.

    D.C. Water says new high-capacity bypass pumps are expected to arrive Friday at the site of last month’s sewer pipe break that has poured millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River.

    However, questions are being raised about whether the public is being adequately informed about health risks and ongoing environmental damage.

    In an open letter this week, D.C. Water CEO David Gaddis resolved to do everything possible to reclaim the Potomac, following the initial Jan. 17 failure of a 72-inch sewer pipe, known as the Potomac Interceptor.

    But data collected by researchers suggests the D.C. government may be downplaying the dangers of the spill, according to a local environmentalist with the Potomac Riverkeeper nonprofit.

    Researchers with the University of Maryland say they’ve been testing the water once a week since Jan. 21.

    “Even last week we’re still measuring E.coli 4,000 times above recreational water quality standards,” said Rachel Rosenberg Goldstein, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Department of Global, Environmental and Occupational Health.

    “We’ve also detected Staphylococcus aureus and the antibiotic resistant strain of staph aureus, which is called MRSA,” Goldstein told WTOP’s Nick Iannelli.

    The findings pose a substantial danger to humans, Goldstein said.

    “It’s really important for public health, because people who interact with the water, and potentially with the lands that was impacted by the water, could become infected with those bacteria,” Goldstein said.

    The recent ice has frozen the risk in place, but warmer weather could exacerbate the situation.

    “Bacteria can survive in a lot of different types of environments,” Goldstein said. “Wastewater sewage is a type of environment that’s very favorable for bacteria growth. So especially as we see the temperature changing and we see the snow following, it’s really important that we continue to follow what’s happening with the water quality over time.”

    Potomac Riverkeeper: DC is ‘sitting on its hands’

    The gravity of the public health and environmental risk is being underplayed, according to Dean Naujoks, Potomac Riverkeeper, which is part of the nonprofit network dedicated to protecting the public’s right to clean, safe water in the Potomac and Shenandoah watersheds.

    “Everybody keeps deferring to D.C. Water, and it’s a huge mistake,” said Naujoks, claiming the utility has downplayed risks, and miscalculated early E.coli findings, now saying they were actually 100 times higher than initially reported.

    Naujoks believes local and federal governments have been lax in providing leadership in raising public awareness.

    “D.C. is kind of sitting on its hands,” he said.

    Naujoks said the Environmental Protection Agency and the D.C. Office of Energy and the Environment have regulatory oversight of D.C. Water, which he referred to as “the entity that caused one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history.”

    “D.C. Water should not be in this role because they have a vested interest to assure the public that the water is safe,” he said.

    Long-term, he said “If they’re going to restore confidence in people coming back to the water — with crew teams and sailing clubs — we need data, we need sampling, and D.C. is going to have to pay for that to restore the public’s confidence and faith in the Potomac River.”

    On Thursday, D.C.’s Department of Energy and Environment issued its strongest advisory: “Residents and pets should not touch the Potomac River, or engage in any Potomac recreational activities including fishing. D.C. drinking water remains safe and unaffected.”

    In addition, the agency said it is “testing contamination levels at three Potomac River sites and three Anacostia River sites. In addition, D.C. Water is testing five other sites. DOEE testing will continue on a weekly basis and results will be made publicly available.”

    WTOP’s Jessica Kronzer contributed to this report.

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    Neal Augenstein

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  • DC Water CEO addresses community in wake of massive sewage spill – WTOP News

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    DC Water CEO David Gaddis resolved to do everything possible to reclaim the Potomac River after last month’s disastrous sewer pipe break, he said in an open letter to the community Wednesday.

    D.C. Water CEO David Gaddis resolved to do everything possible to reclaim the Potomac River after last month’s disastrous sewer pipe break, he said in an open letter to the community Wednesday.

    The failure in a section of a 72-inch sewer pipe, known as the Potomac Interceptor, resulted in the release of hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the river just inside the Beltway along the C&O Canal in Montgomery County, Maryland. It’s considered the largest spill of wastewater in U.S. history.

    “The Potomac River is a shared natural treasure, and any event that threatens its health understandably causes concern, frustration, and a sense of loss. Those feelings are not only valid — but they are also shared by all of us at DC Water,” Gaddis said in the letter.

    The letter went onto explain that on Jan. 19, crews noticed unusual activity in security cameras monitoring an odor control facility along the C&O Canal. Upon inspection, crews discovered the break.

    In the days since the discovery, D.C. Water personnel and contractors worked to “contain the overflow, protect public safety, and begin repairs.”

    A bypass system was constructed to pump waste around the damaged area of the pipe and reinsert it into a section of the structure downstream.

    Complicating the repairs was the discovery last week of a large rock dam blocking a significant section of the pipe about 30 feet south of the break. D.C. Water is waiting for five large capacity pumps to arrive from Texas and Florida to increase pumping capacity. They then plan to build a bulkhead near the break to divert more water so workers can safely remove the boulders.

    D.C. Water expects this to take up to an extra six weeks to accomplish.

    Gaddis noted that DC Water will be dedicating resources not only to the repairs but also to an environmental restoration program to mitigate the damage that’s already been done.

    The letter detailed a $625 million investment to rehabilitate the Potomac Interceptor as part of a 10-year, $10 billion Capital Improvement Program.

    Gaddis pointed out that several tunnels they’ve built along the Northeast Boundary, and are currently building along the Potomac, have resulted in billions of gallons of combined sewage being prevented from entering the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers through the utility’s Clean Rivers Project.

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    Alan Etter

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  • DC Water says it will take longer to repair broken sewer pipe in Potomac River spill – WTOP News

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    It’s going to take at least another four weeks to repair a large sewer pipe that collapsed last month, spilling wastewater into the Potomac River.

    A recently placed warning sign is seen at the sight of a massive pipe rupture, as sewage flows into the Potomac River, right, in Glen Echo, Md., Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. A massive pipe that moves millions of gallons of sewage has ruptured and sent wastewater flowing into the Potomac River northwest of Washington, polluting it ahead of a major winter storm that has repair crews scrambling. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)(AP/Cliff Owen)

    The large sewer pipe that collapsed on Jan. 19, resulting in millions of gallons of wastewater being spilled into the Potomac River, is going to take four to six weeks longer to repair.

    That’s because D.C. Water has discovered a giant rock dam south of the site of the original collapse.

    “This will require us to bring in additional equipment to remove the obstruction,” said D.C. Water spokesperson Sherri Lewis, adding the sewage flow has been successfully bypassed around the failed pipe, known as the Potomac Interceptor.

    “These giant industrial vacuums that we use can’t suck the boulders out because they are so big,” she said.

    Personnel will have to go into the pipe to remove the rocks manually. Additional pumps are being brought in from Texas and Florida to complete the task, but that will add more time to complete the repairs.

    In the meantime, water quality tests conducted by the University of Maryland and the Potomac Riverkeeper Network have found alarmingly high levels of E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which causes staph infections, in several samples taken from Jan. 21 to Jan. 28.

    Contamination levels are much higher near the break site, which is in Montgomery County along the C&O Canal and Clara Barton Parkway. But bacterial contamination has been detected nine miles down river.

    Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks urged the local health departments to issue a public alert about the contamination.

    “We’re getting calls and emails literally every day from people who are concerned,” Naujoks said. “We’re demanding that these public health agencies in Maryland and most importantly D.C. do their jobs and start protecting public health and just err on the side of caution and issue an advisory.”

    Leaders of the Washington Aqueduct have said drinking water isn’t being impacted by the spill. The main pumping station that supplies water to the aqueduct is several miles north of the failed pipe.

    A station closer to the spill site has been offline since before the break — and the aqueduct’s general manager said it will stay that way until water quality levels are back to normal.

    D.C. Water will build a large pit upstream of the collapse site in order to access the existing sewer line and to install new, high-capacity pumps. Five more pumps — coming from Florida and Texas — will increase the pumps on site to 13 and expand the capacity to more than 100 million gallons per day, allowing the diversion of wastewater so crews can safely remove the rocks.

    D.C. Water has put up signs along the C&O Canal at river access points alerting people to the dangers of coming into contact with the water.

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    Alan Etter

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  • Bypass brings DC Water close to containing C&O Canal sewer overflow – WTOP News

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    D.C. Water said major progress has been made in its efforts to contain a sewer overflow that began after a section of the Potomac Interceptor collapsed along Clara Barton Parkway.

    D.C. Water said substantial progress has been made in its efforts to contain a major sewer overflow that began after a 72-inch section of the Potomac Interceptor collapsed one week ago along Clara Barton Parkway.

    The collapse triggered a significant sanitary sewer overflow into the C&O Canal National Historical Park.

    The Potomac Interceptor is a 54‑mile sewer line that carries roughly 60 million gallons of wastewater a day from communities near Dulles International Airport, Loudoun and Fairfax counties, the towns of Vienna and Herndon, and parts of Montgomery County to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in the District.

    In the days after the Jan. 19 failure, crews assisted by the National Park Service worked nonstop to clear access, install pipes and build a temporary bypass system. The system is designed to divert wastewater upstream of the collapse, route it through a dry stretch of the C&O Canal and return it to the sewer line downstream.

    D.C. Water said the bypass became operational Wednesday night. Six large pumps are now moving wastewater around the damaged section, and flow returning to the sewer system has increased by about 40 million gallons per day.

    Potomac River Keeper Dean Naujoks, holds a biohazard collection bag while standing alongside the site where a massive pipe rupture has sent sewage spilling into the Potomac River, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026 in Glen Echo, Md. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

    Some wastewater is still escaping near the break, which D.C. Water said is expected while the collapsed pipe continues to drain. Additional pumps are being brought in to help reach full containment.

    With the bypass running, D.C. Water said crews will begin excavating and inspecting the collapsed pipe segment, removing debris, stabilizing the surrounding ground and developing a long‑term repair plan. The utility has not yet said how long permanent fixes will take.

    The collapse caused wastewater to spill into a creek bed that leads to the Potomac River. D.C. Water said once repairs are complete, the agency and its partners, including the National Park Service and the Maryland Department of the Environment, will survey affected areas for erosion, debris removal and any environmental cleanup.

    D.C. Water said drinking water remains safe and unaffected. The District’s drinking water system is separate from its wastewater system, and the overflow occurred downstream of the Washington Aqueduct’s intake points. Intake structures at Little Falls were also closed as a precaution.

    The collapse occurred just east of the Interstate 495 interchange along Clara Barton Parkway and initially forced the closure of the right inbound lane.

    The public is asked to avoid posted areas along the canal or river. Anyone with questions can contact D.C. Water at 202‑354‑3600 or its 24‑Hour Command Center at 202‑612‑3400.

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    Matt Small

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  • Sewer line collapse triggers wastewater spill into C&O Canal near Clara Barton Parkway – WTOP News

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    A section of a sewer line collapsed late Monday, overflowing into the C&O Canal Park.

    A major sewage spill could have some effect for commuters using the Clara Barton Parkway this morning. And a lot of repairs still need to be done. WTOP’s Neal Augenstein is near the C&O Canal (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)

    D.C. Water crews are racing to build an emergency bypass system after a major section of a sewer line collapsed late Monday along Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County, triggering a significant sanitary sewer overflow into the C&O Canal National Historical Park.

    D.C. Water and contractors are working to build a bypass system to carry 60 million gallons of wastewater daily from areas in Virginia out to Dulles as well as Montgomery County to the Blue Plains treatment plant.

    The collapse involves a 72-inch section of the Potomac Interceptor, a 54-mile sewer line that carries roughly 60 million gallons of wastewater a day from communities near Dulles International Airport, Loudoun and Fairfax counties, the towns of Vienna and Herndon, and parts of Montgomery County, to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant for treatment.

    To contain the overflow, D.C. Water is constructing a temporary bypass designed to divert wastewater upstream of the collapse.

    On Wednesday, D.C. Water said crews were mobilized to clean up debris and install pipes in preparation for the bypass. In a news release, the utility company said pumps that will redirect the wastewater could be implemented as early as this weekend.

    The plan says flow will be routed through a dry stretch of the C&O Canal — a temporary channel, then go back into the Potomac Interceptor downstream of the damaged section. Officials say the bypass is critical to stopping additional overflow and protecting the Potomac River and surrounding environment.

    Once the bypass is operational and flows are under control, crews will excavate the damaged area to assess the extent of the collapse and determine how long permanent repairs will take.

    On Thursday, D.C. Water and the National Park Service will begin to remove certain upper lock gates needed to accommodate the bypass.

    D.C. Water stressed that the incident does not affect drinking water. The District’s drinking water system is completely separate from the wastewater system and water service remains safe and uninterrupted.

    The overflow is located downstream from the Washington Aqueduct’s intakes at Great Falls, and intakes at Little Falls have also been closed as a precaution.

    The collapse is located just east of the I-495 interchange along Clara Barton Parkway, forcing the closure of the right inbound lane.

    Drivers heading toward D.C. should expect delays during the morning rush and are encouraged to use alternate routes. The public is reminded to avoid contact with raw sewage that may carry bacteria and viruses

    If you have additional questions or need information, you may contact DC Water’s Customer Care team at (202) 354-3600 (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or the 24-Hour Command Center at 202-612-3400.

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    Will Vitka

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  • DC Water takes big step forward in Potomac River Tunnel project – WTOP News

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    D.C. Water is making progress with an initiative that aims to clean up the District’s waterways — the Potomac River tunnel project.

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    DC Water takes a big step forward in its Potomac River Tunnel Project

    D.C. Water is making progress with an initiative that aims to clean up the District’s waterways — the Potomac River tunnel project.

    On Tuesday, a multiton cutter head was lowered to the bottom of a 100-foot shaft at West Potomac Park to attach to a tunnel-boring machine.

    It’s one of two machines that will mine through soil to construct the 5.5-mile long tunnel from the Georgetown waterfront to the Blue Plains water treatment facility in Southwest.

    “We are basically lifting and lowering down in the shaft the very front section of the machine that is actually able to mine through rock,” said Potomac River Tunnel Project Manager Martino Scialpi, who explained the cutter head is designed specifically to cut through rock, which makes up most of the terrain in Georgetown.

    The first machine is named “Mary” in honor of Mary Edmonson, an abolitionist from Maryland who alongside her sister, Emily, attempted to escape slavery aboard the vessel Pearl in 1848.

    The West Potomac Park shaft is just one of several construction sites to serve the Potomac River Tunnel during its construction.

    Mary will mine north to the Georgetown waterfront, the other machine, named after Emily, will mine south to D.C. Water’s treatment facility in Blue Plains.

    The project is expected to be reach its substantial completion phase in 2028, when it can likely be put into use but may require some finishing touches by crews. Construction is set to be fully complete in February 2030, the date set by a consent decree between the federal government, D.C. government and D.C. Water.

    D.C. Water’s Clean Rivers Project is a $3.1 billion program to establish a series of tunnels to collect billions of gallons of combined sewer and storm drain runoff during periods of heavy rain.

    The project, which has already produced three similar tunnels, is credited with significantly cleaning the Anacostia River. The Potomac River Tunnel is aimed at keeping sewer runoff from reaching the Potomac.

    A multiton cutter head was lowered to the bottom of a 100-foot shaft at West Potomac Park to attach to a tunnel boring machine.
    (WTOP/Alan Etter)

    WTOP/Alan Etter

    It's part of an initiative that aims to clean up the District's waterways -- D.C. Water's Potomac River Tunnel Project.
    It’s part of an initiative that aims to clean up the District’s waterways — D.C. Water’s Potomac River Tunnel Project.
    (WTOP/Alan Etter)

    WTOP/Alan Etter

    machine on construction site
    Two machines will mine through soil to construct the 5.5-mile long tunnel from the Georgetown waterfront to the Blue Plains water treatment facility in Southwest.
    (WTOP/Alan Etter)

    WTOP/Alan Etter

    machine lowered to burrow tunnel
    D.C. Water’s Clean Rivers Project is a $3.1 billion program to establish a series of tunnels to collect billions of gallons of combined sewer and storm drain runoff during periods of heavy rain.
    (WTOP/Alan Etter)

    WTOP/Alan Etter

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    Alan Etter

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  • DC Water announces second source of drinking water after vulnerable Potomac River – WTOP News

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    DC Water has announced a second source and outlined plans to make the region’s water supply more resilient.

    Nine years after WTOP reported D.C. only has a one or two-day supply of drinking water if the Potomac River became unavailable, DC Water has announced a second source and outlined plans to make the region’s water supply more resilient.

    The second source is recycled water from the utility’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, the largest of its kind in the world.

    David Gadis, CEO and general manager of DC Water, in unveiling the Pure Water DC initiative to a room full of stakeholders, said any disruption of the Potomac River would result in a national security emergency and cause a massive economic impact to the region.

    “D.C.’s particular situation requires both storage and a second source,” said Rabia Chaudhry, the utility’s director of Water Supply Resilience.

    Until now, the Potomac River has been the sole source for water processed at the Washington Aqueduct, which is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

    Over the past 9 years, the Travilah Quarry in Rockville, Maryland, which yielded crushed stone to build the Intercounty Connector and widen Interstate 270, has been considered as part of the solution.

    “The quarry is a really great long-term storage solution, but it’s not in the near future,” Chaudhry said. “Right now, the understanding is it might be 30 years into the future.”

    However, Gadis, Chaudhry and others said the need to harden the area’s water supply can’t wait.

    “We are advancing a second source through water recycling — that’s an opportunity that can come online, maybe within the next decade or so,” Chaudhry said. “Water recycling is an opportunity that’s being used around the world, in the Western U.S. — California, Texas, Utah and Colorado — to make communities drought-resistant.”

    The wastewater that will be recycled currently flows to the Blue Plains facility.

    “It uses water that’s already been collected at sewage treatment plants, treats them to near-distilled-quality levels, and then allows that water to be mixed in with drinking water sources,” Chaudhry said.

    One challenge of the project is demonstrating to the public that recycled water is safe to drink.

    “There’s a name for the idea — it’s called ‘the yuck factor,’” Chaudhry said, citing a common initial response to the idea of purifying wastewater for drinking. “There’s a known process, on how you engage with the public to overcome the ‘yuck factor.’”

    With $21 million of seed-funding approved by DC Water’s Board of Directors, ground is expected to be broken early next year for the Pure Water DC Discovery Center on the grounds of Blue Plains.

    The facility will be used to pilot technologies to create purified drinking water, conduct research and communicate with regulators, and provide a chance for the public to see and learn about the process up close.

    Even without taking the purification to the next level, Chaudhry said many would be surprised by the quality of wastewater that is currently processed at Blue Plains.

    “Blue Plains water, when it’s discharged into the Potomac River, is cleaner than the receiving water,” she said. “You can see it in the satellite imagery.”

    The receiving water is processed upriver at the Aqueduct located on MacArthur Boulevard.

    In fact, Chaudhry said about 5% of the Potomac River water which reaches the Aqueduct’s intakes to begin the purification process for customers in the District and Arlington, comes from upstream wastewater facilities.

    “We’re all downstream of somebody,” she said.

    DC Water plans to provide its water reuse feasibility findings to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is in the midst of a three-year study funded through Congress to bolster the region’s water supply.

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  • Washington Aqueduct gets OK to add antialgae chemical to protect drinking water supply – WTOP News

    Washington Aqueduct gets OK to add antialgae chemical to protect drinking water supply – WTOP News

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    The Washington Aqueduct can now add copper sulfate to its water treatment process to prevent future problems when algae in the Potomac River threatens the main water source for the D.C. region.

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    Washington Aqueduct gets OK to add antialgae chemical to protect drinking water

    Three weeks after the lifting of a boil water advisory for all of D.C. and most of Arlington, Virginia, the Washington Aqueduct can now add a new chemical to its water treatment process to prevent future problems when algae in the Potomac River threatens the main water source for much of the region.

    Earlier this month, increased algae in the Potomac River clogged filters at the aqueduct, leading to cloudy drinking water and a low water supply.

    WTOP has learned the aqueduct, which is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been granted permanent authority from the Environmental Protection Agency to add a chemical that will head off future problems with algae gumming up the drinking water treatment facility.

    “On July 3, when we were in the middle of the algae issues, we got emergency temporary authorization from the EPA to use copper sulfate as an oxidizing agent,” said Rudy Chow, general manager of the Washington Aqueduct.

    Since then, Chow said, the aqueduct has been granted permanent authorization from the agency to add the chemical to its treatment process to combat algae attacks.

    The improvement is evident, even to the naked eye, Chow said while standing next to the aqueduct’s sedimentation basin, where water from the Potomac River sits before it enters the treatment plant to be filtered and sent out as drinking water.

    “This is where solids, or turbidity, settles out, so we get clear water overflowing into our filters, so it can be filtered. And that’s where the finished water comes from,” Chow said. “During the July 3 event, the water coming over was pretty much all green, with a very strong, green color to it.”

    At the time, Chow saw “floating algae mats on top of the sedimentation basin, which got washed into the filter building, thus clogging up the filters.”

    “EPA appreciates the quick action taken by staff at the Washington Aqueduct the evening of July 3 to ensure safe drinking water was supplied to the residents of Washington DC and Arlington, Virginia,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz in a statement.“With climate change, we are likely to see these kinds of problems with algae blooms more often, and EPA is committed to working with the Washington Aqueduct to ensure that this does not impair drinking water for District and Arlington residents.”

    Chow said chemicals being added to the raw water as it flows into the Potomac River intakes is helping reduce the amount of algae floating in the sedimentation basin.

    “We’re adding triple the amount of aluminum sulfate, which is a coagulant agent to help solids settle out,” Chow said. “On top of that, we’re adding copper sulfate as an oxidizer coming through at the headworks, so by the time it gets here to the sedimentation basin, it can settle out properly.”

    Other water providers using the Potomac River as their main water source, including WSSC Water and Fairfax Water, have been able to weather this year’s algae bloom without affecting their drinking water output.

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