The DC Water and Sewer Authority's Potomac Interceptor sewer line at Manhole #31, approximately 400 feet (just more than a football field) from the Potomac River, and varying proximity to 18 private wells in Great Falls, 158 feet to 2,755 feet, failed on or before Feb. 12.
As part of its emergency response plan, DC Water immediately activated an on-site bypass pumping contractor. On Tuesday, Feb. 13, "the site experienced a substantial amount of rain," and on Feb. 14, the pipeline again failed. "The eroded area expanded substantially," DC Water reported. The utility company provided the words as captions for slides presented by the Fairfax County Health Department at the Feb. 27 virtual Great Falls Community Meeting.
"I recognize that DC Water was handling certain things, but they don't report to you, our county staff, and I do," said Fairfax County Supervisor Jimmy Bierman (Dranesville) at the meeting. "I'm not very happy with DC Water right now for a number of reasons… . I felt like we needed to have a follow-up community meeting and that we needed to bring in the experts that we have in the county to try and give you as much information as possible."
The utility company collects sewage for several adjoining localities in Maryland and Virginia, including Fairfax County, transporting about 60 million gallons of wastewater daily via the Potomac Interceptor to the Potomac Pumping Station in Washington, DC. Flows from the pump station are then sent to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant for treatment before discharge into the Potomac River. DC Water provided the updated statements in the captions of photographs shown as slides at the Fairfax County Health Department's community meeting. The broken pipe was part of a larger project to upgrade and rehabilitate the Potomac Interceptor.
Concerns and speculations had spread among the close-knit Great Falls community, particularly after the Fairfax County Health Department issued a boil-water advisory to potentially affected households. The county conducted bacteriological tests from Saturday, Feb. 17, to Sunday, Feb. 25, excluding testing on Feb. 20. Coliform bacteria were detected in 11 of the 77 test results of the 18 impacted wells.
Breaking it down further by well occurrence, Fairfax County reported that four of the 18 private wells tested positive for coliform organisms, with one positive for E. coli. Wells #3 and #8 tested positive for coliform bacteria once each; well #4 tested positive three times; and well #9, the furthest away from Manhole #13, tested positive six times.
But did EPA fine them?
The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Country Girls ready for your digital pleasure at The Other McCain.
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