No one is complaining about the food at upscale Penn Quarter Italian restaurant Elisir -- it's the water that's the problem. The restaurant's owners, though, are scrambling to change that. more ›

No more paying 29 cents for a glass of filtered water! Italian restaurant Elisir has freed the tap water. more ›

Elisir seems to have a knack for catching our eye with menu quirks. The most recent comes from Eater's preview of the restaurant: "...there will be a 29-cent surcharge on water since Elisir is only serving the filtered kind." more ›

About 98 times a year, the District gets enough rain that its aging combined sewer system overflows, dumping roughly 2.5 billion gallons of wastewater in the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, as well as into Rock Creek. But today, D.C. Water broke ground on a $2.6 billion project that will all but eliminate the overflow, making area rivers and the Chesapeake Bay significantly cleaner in the process. more ›

Now, look -- I know that most of you probably had plans to jump into a local waterway real soon. But it seems an especially silly idea in the wake of Hurricane Irene, which may have dumped as much as "200 million gallons of rain mixed with raw sewage" around the region. more ›

Depending on who you ask, being on a boat may be the best or worst idea during the type of tropical storm we're about to get hit with. But for the 120 residents of the Gangplank Marina in Southwest, it really isn't a choice -- it's simply where they live. more ›

This afternoon, Mayor Vince Gray announced that he would declare a state of emergency in the District of Columbia, enabling the city to receive assistance from the National Guard and federal funding, if necessary. more ›

Remember on Tuesday, when we learned that nine-year-old Virginia boy died after a "brain-eating amoeba" entered his body? Well, now we get word of two other deaths around the country thanks to said organism, including a Louisiana man who contracted the parasite through his drinking water. more ›

First, there was an oil spill in the Anacostia. Then, there wasn't. Now, authorities are saying that there's definitely something which is making the river shine, but they aren't really sure what it is. more ›

The Anacostia River is dirty. We all kind of knew that already, but that assessment has officially been confirmed by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth. more ›

The residents of Washington are no stranger to fire hydrant troubles. So when a DCist reader noticed that the hydrant in the photo to the right had been spewing water for some time, an email landed in our inbox. more ›

It's been well documented that the Anacostia River is not in the best health. So what better way to protest the government's lack of attention to the waterway than by hopping into it with a hazmat suit on? more ›

D.C. Water has officially released its 2010 Drinking Water Quality Report, "the most comprehensive drinking water resource delivered to District residents each year." So how's our water? more ›

Last month, officials from D.C. Water and the city's fire department kindly asked residents to not bust open fire hydrants during heat waves. It sounds like people are listening -- WTOP reports that said officials have "a high level of confidence" in the water pressure inside fire hydrants around the city. more ›

With the temperature rising around the District this week, surely some may be tempted to go old school and crack open one of the city's fire hydrants in search of some refreshment. But the city is getting an early start on reminding residents that they would really prefer it if you let the hydrants be. This morning, we got the usual reminder from the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department and DC Water that resident residents who tamper with the city's hydrants are potentially to blame when firefighters are unable to find a working water supply. more ›

It's a good thing too -- even though we're nearing the end of a rainy week, the Potomac River is expected to crest at a level 11 feet higher than normal tomorrow morning. more ›

WUSA9 reports that three water main breaks are currently affecting the water supply at various locations around Northwest. D.C. Water tells the station that 20 homes are affected in each location -- see the map above for where the water's out -- and that it will likely take 6 to 8 hours to repair the breaks. more ›

So long, bleachy-smelling drinking water: D.C. Water has announced that the city's annual switch to a chlorine water disinfectant ends today. more ›

DCist tipster Alex Greenlee provides these images from this morning's massive flooding at Washington Harbour in Georgetown, adding that some of the businesses inside the Harbour have been "destroyed." D.C. Fire and EMS has responded to the scene and confirmed that there have been evacuations. more ›

This is pretty great: today, D.C. Water -- never an agency to shy away from fun ways of interacting with its customers -- released "A Drop's Life," an "informational cartoon" to explain to the public the Clean Rivers Project, a 20-year, $2.6 billion program that's supposed to "reduce combined-sewer runoff to the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek by 96 percent." more ›

Spring has arrived, and with it comes the time when Washington's water supply smells slightly like chlorine. It's time yet again to clean out the city's pipes -- today, D.C. Water switches its disinfectant from chloramine to chlorine. This year's chlorine treatment, which occurs every spring before the temperatures begin to warm up, will continue through May 2. more ›

Last year, we were kinda disappointed with the shade of green that the White House chose to dye the North Lawn fountain in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Even when the White House sent along an image taken from a different angle, it still didn't measure up to 2009, when the pool was about as green as you can get. Well, we're pleased to see that this year, the White House ditched the sea foam/pea soup nonsense and returned to the freakishly neon shade of two years ago. more ›

It's an old D.C. adage that regardless of the differences between us, we'll always have the weather, the Metro and the Redskins to gripe about. But if I had to add a fourth to that list of always-pertinent subjects, I'd probably suggest water. After all, it's a topic that affects everyone in town, and plenty of residents probably have good questions about what's going on with the water supply. The good news is that D.C. Water is embarking on a ward-by-ward tour answer such questions: the first installment of a city-wide town hall series in which General Manager George S. Hawkins and D.C. Water reps will share information about water quality, construction projects and customer service will take place in Ward 3 (inside the University of the District of Columbia's Windows Lounge -- that's on the second floor of Building 38 at 4200 Connecticut Avenue NW) tonight at 6:30 p.m. -- check out the entire schedule to see when Hawkins and company will be coming to your ward over the next couple of months. more ›

Crews from D.C. Water are investigating a possible water main break located on 15th Street NW between G and H Streets. "We're working a suspected water main break there," according to D.C. Water spokesperson Alan Heymann. Heymann also reported that two nearby buildings were out of service. Based on this image of the scene, traffic in the area appears to be blocked off to allow the crews to investigate. more ›

Congratulations, portions of southern Prince George's County -- you may not have any power right now, but at least you should be able to drink water from the tap again! The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has lifted the boil-water advisory which had been in effect for a large majority of the County since Monday, when a massive water main broke near Capitol Heights. Recent tests conducted on the County's water supply showed no contamination. WSSC is informing customers that though they don't need to boil their water, it's a good idea to run all taps on cold for five minutes before you drink, throw away any ice made in the last few days, disinfect icemakers with a diluted bleach solution and flush refrigerator lines. more ›

The Republicans are here, and they're looking to make cuts when it comes to the staff budgets of Representatives. Well, how about starting with water? more ›

And you thought the biggest problem with D.C. water was the possible lead contamination. The Environmental Working Group will release a study Monday showing that out of 35 cities surveyed, 31 have hexavalent chromium in their tap water. You might have heard of hexavalent chromium, as you might remember by Erin Brockovich, who sued the Pacific Gas & Electric in California when the possible carcinogen was found in Hinkley, CA's water supply. more ›