Results tagged “wasa”

If you noticed that traffic was reduced to one lane in each direction on Connecticut Ave. NW today, be prepared for more of the same as the week continues. The DC Water and Sewer Authority is performing test pitting utility work between Calvert and Cathedral Streets, and the lane restrictions will continue in that area at least through Wednesday, November 25, with work resuming on November 30 if more time is needed to complete the project. WASA will limit its work to between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day, so it shouldn't affect rush hour too much, but the closures also mean there will be no on-street parking available in those blocks at those times, according to DDOT.

The District Department of Transportation reports that as of about 11:45 a.m., a water main break has forced 16th Street NW to close in both directions between V Street and Euclid Street. The main break occurred in the 2400 block of 16th Street NW.

A few D.C. public schools may have been down to the wire when it came to completing renovations and repairs for the first day of school today, but parents at Garfield Elementary School can hardly blame DCPS for a water main break that shut the school down this morning. Repair work began at around 10 a.m. on a 12" water main that broke at 22nd Street and Southern Ave. SE this morning, but in the meantime, the Garfield campus has been left without running water. WJLA is reporting that Garfield students are being moved to Winston and Stanton Elementary Schools until the water comes back on. Talk about a hectic first day for these kids.

DC WASA and the D.C. Fire & EMS Department provided Mayor Fenty's office with a list of potential trouble spots for water-related firefighting issues in the wake of the big fire at Peggy Cooper Cafritz's house, and WUSA9 has a copy. Among the reasons given why an area might be listed are "small water mains, hydrant configuration, topography, access, and the possibility of private hydrants not regulated by WASA." Fire Department spokesperson Pete Piringer is also quoted urging residents not to panic if your neighborhood or building is on the list. "He says the fire department has put plans in place to make sure there is an adequate water supply to fight fires." Recent evidence notwithstanding, apparently. Full list after the jump.

Police and fire officials blocked off both Florida Ave NW and Belmont Street NW between 13th and 14th Streets to clean up flooding caused by multiple water main breaks near the area.

When DC Water and Sewer Authority General Manager Jerry Johnson left the agency in April, WASAWatch hailed the news as an end to a "culture of deception, secrecy, and disregard for public health." Perhaps true for the District proper -- but in the broader Washington metropolitan area, deception, secrecy, and disregard for public health are never far from hand. Johnson has been selected by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission to serve as its general manager, according to reports.

Here at DCist Storm Command Central, we're about 15 minutes away from declaring this last week an official Deluge '09 Event (loyal readers may recall the previous incarnation of this designation, Deluge '06). The latest press release from the District Department of Transportation is really pushing this decision over the top. Could Davy DCist be on his way down to DCist HQ? Check back in later to find out.

DDOT has sent around word that Florida Ave. NW between 17th Street and California remains closed due to this morning's massive water main break. The 1700 block of V Street NW is also closed at this time. From the release:

WASA crews are on site and are working to repair the broken 20-inch water main. There is significant damage to the roadway as well, and it is likely to take at least several hours to complete the repairs. In the meantime, motorists are advised to use alternate routes including U Street, to detour around the affected area.

Separate from the massive main break/sinkhole/gas leak/basement flooding in the 1700 block of Florida Ave. NW, crews are working to repair two other water main breaks in the District this morning.

WASA has crews out working to repair a broken, 8" water main at 3rd and Allison Streets NW, near Rock Creek Cemetery. Water has been shut off in the immediate area since at least 7:30 a.m., leaving roughly 30 homes without water. WASA estimates repairs will take 6 to 8 hours.

On top of the smoking manholes and subsequent road closures, Adams Morgan is now facing a water main break at 17th and Euclid Streets NW. WASA has reported that 100 customers are affected by the outage in the area. No word on whether the underground fire that caused the smoke had any effect on the water main.

You knew something like this was only a matter of time. The Post reports that a D.C. man who is the father of developmentally disabled twin boys has filed a class action lawsuit against D.C. WASA.

A water main break near 16th Street and Park Road NW this morning has left some customers in the area without water. Workers responding to the scene also report that water spilling out onto the street has caused icy conditions around the break, thanks to freezing temperatures. A salt truck has been requested. Work crews estimate the break will be repaired by 5 p.m.

District residents are understandably disturbed by yesterday's lead revelations in the Washington Post, and the D.C. Council has gone ahead and scheduled a hearing to address environmental and health concerns. The Committee on Government Operations and the Environment hearing is set for February 10 at 11 a.m. at the John A. Wilson Building, Room 412. Committee chair Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) will hold the hearing jointly with Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who oversees WASA.

So the big, big, big story on the front page of this morning's Washington Post was by Carol Leonnig, who obtained a copy of a forthcoming study that shows that hundreds of District children had dangerously high levels of lead in their blood during the WASA lead crisis earlier this decade.

The study, based on a detailed analysis of thousands of children’s blood tests from 2000 to 2003, contradicts the public assurances issued by federal and D.C. health officials starting in 2004. At the time, although officials acknowledged that the amount of lead in city water were at record-breaking levels, they said repeatedly that they found no measurable impact on the general public’s health.

You know, I get a lot of junk mail. But I'm certainly glad that between the Dell catalogs, the Comcast advertisements, and the Valpak coupons, I managed to open up this little nugget of information from WASA: back in December, the water coming from the McMillan water treatment plant had a 14-minute spike in turbidity, which is an indicator that the water supply may contain "disease-causing organisms." Local development blog DCMud has a more detailed explanation of what exactly happened (digging at a large development site near the treatment facility seems to be to blame), and also a scan of the letter, for those who might have missed it. Your fun thought of the day? An addendum attached to the letter from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers states that the spike may have released organisms that could cause "nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches." Yup, that's disgusting. And to think, all this time you were just worried about peanut butter.

Via AlertDC, there is a broken 12 inch water main on 7th Street NW between D Street and Indiana Avenue NW. WASA crews are already on the scene working to repair it -- if you go by there, please let us know what it looks like -- email tips(at)dcist from your smartphone.

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WASA is reporting three separate water main breaks this morning. Two of the breaks are in Glover Park, the first being an 8-inch water main on Observatory Place NW between Manor Place and Benton Street, the second being a 16-inch main just down the block from the other one, on the 3700 block of Manor Place NW. Approximately 65 homes were affected in this area while crews work to make repairs. The third break is at 16th and S Streets NW, causing northbound lanes on 16th Street from R to S to be closed while repairs are made. Southbound 16th Street lanes remain open.

WASA representative Pamela Mooring wrote us to let us know more about the incident (or, as it turns out, incidents) we reported earlier: "This morning we had a 48” valve near Soldiers Home (NW) that needed to be adjusted. That caused low water pressure in a wide area of the District. We opened the valve, and water pressure was restored. The 6” water main work at 12th and O Streets, NW, is unrelated. There was a leak there reported Saturday, but the area was not taken out of service until crews could perform the work today. The estimate for completion of the work and restoration of water is around 5 pm this evening." Those of you still without water should see that resolved in the next couple hours.

Find out! DC WASA has developed a Google Earth-based fire hydrants file for the whole city, showing where in- and out-of-service hydrants are. Their web site has the Google Earth KMZ file, as well as a help document on how to use it (basically, just add it to Google Earth). The pink dots are the non-working hydrants and the purple ones are the working ones. It's kind of busy, with hydrant number labels all over the place, but hey, it's available.

Despite what Alert DC told us all this morning, WASA says the power outage in Columbia Heights was not caused by a water main break. We weren't the only ones who reported a main break at 13th and Florida this morning, but it also wouldn't be the first time Alert DC oversimplified something that was more nuanced.

The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority sent around word this morning that too many people, especially in Southeast, have been opening up fire hydrants during the heat wave over the past few days, and water pressure in some areas is now very low as a result. The agency says they'd really, really like it if you would stop opening up those hydrants and playing in the resulting spraying water.

The public is reminded that unauthorized use of hydrants is illegal. Such activity will cause low water pressure and service problems for customers and can damage the underground water infrastructure. Loss of adequate water pressure can have a negative impact on fire fighting when firefighters are unable to get enough water to suppress fires. Opening hydrants also poses a safety issue for young children who could easily be hurt from the high water pressure.

Continue reading "WASA Begs Residents to Stop Opening Hydrants"

A water main break is disrupting traffic on 16th Street NW between Florida Ave. and Euclid Street. D.C. Water and Sewer Authority workers are on the scene working on the break.

Several neighborhood blogs are posting information about the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority's upcoming public meetings to discuss a proposed 8.5 percent rate increase to city water and sewer rates.

Earlier today the AlertDC system sent out an advisory that five water mains had broken overnight in Southeast DC. The DC Water and Sewer Authority followed up with a press release a couple of hours later with the exact locations of the breaks, details on service disruptions, and repair schedule. The utility said that approximately 50 households were affected, though more may be impacted as work continues through the evening.

To refresh your memory, the Washington Post reported last weekend on a set of test results from 2006 that show major lead level spikes in the tap water of hundreds of homes just after lead pipes near them were replaced. The test results were obtained through a freedom of information act request by Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards, and were not made public by WASA before then.

Drinking water distributed in the District of Columbia meets all federal EPA regulations and standards for public health safety.

The implication that WASA has been withholding information about “dangerously high” lead levels is unfair and unfounded for several reasons – (1) temporary spikes in lead levels are not a system-wide problem in District drinking water; (2) the potential for a spike affects only about two percent (2%) of customers who are having a partial lead service line replacement (replacing the lead pipe on the public side of the property line with copper pipe), (3) this temporary (short-term) elevation in lead levels can occur in some cases when lead shavings come loose in the pipes after construction, and (4) the lead spike is short-term and can be reduced by flushing the lines, which customers are instructed on before and after partial lead service line replacement.

On Saturday the Post reported on a set of D.C. Water and Sewer Authority test results from 2006 that show major lead level spikes in the tap water of hundreds of homes just after lead pipes near them were replaced. The test results were obtained through a freedom of information act request by Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards.