Posted on 07/16/2013 8:44:57 PM PDT by SueRae
The spigot will run dry, toilets won’t flush and there will be no cooling shower on sweltering days for more than 100,000 people in Prince George’s County as crews wrestle to repair a major water main that serves their homes and businesses.
The shutdown was carried out Tuesday night and may last up to five days, water officials said.
The warning triggered a headlong rush Tuesday to stock up on bottled water, fill bathtubs and gather any container that might hold water. Firefighters, hospitals and other services that depend on the water supply made contingency plans to handle emergencies.
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, in a warning first issued Monday night, said a 4 1/2-foot main just inside the Capital Beltway was about to fail and might take as long as four days to replace. The utility said it planned to fill other pipes in the area that would be affected by the shutdown to capacity before cutting off the water late Tuesday.
The problem occurred in a week when Washington’s temperatures were expected to soar into the 90s, with heat indexes topping 100 degrees.
Andrews Air Force Base and National Harbor are within the affected area.
Scott Peterson, spokesman for Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D), said the “economic impact of this event will be the equivalent of a natural disaster hitting the county.”
County officials said they will open at least two “reception centers” and deploy tanker trucks to provide water.
“We know residents and businesses are frustrated,” Baker said. “We are frustrated, too.”
But Baker said this was not the time to assess blame and that the priority was helping residents through the crisis.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I think the residents are getting raked over the coals year after year with exorbitant rate increases. I'm glad I don't live there. The folks who put together the Stop WSSC Rate Hikes page are not fans.
The infrastructure in that part of the country is old. One would think that replacing it would be a logical course.
But no, we have to send our leaders on vacation after vacation, and heaven forbid some woman might ever have to purchase that monthly pack of birth control pills herself.
Not only did the local governments prevent WSSC from collecting extra funds for infrastructure maintenance over the years from consumers - but WSSC bought pipe that was apparently defective [won't last their 50-year life expectancy] ...
It is hot here in Maryland, hot and humid.
At least they have AC.
In individual residences. In office buildings and many apartment structures, the building AC uses commercial water in their cooling systems ...
I have been getting a gallon or two of water every day from just running a dehumidifier. Could use that source to flush toilets or maybe clean up with...
Poor infrastructure in a county that historically goes blue? Surely you jest.
Where was TARP, the stimulus $$ and all those wonderful signs on this much needed project? I saw dozens of them posting building walking paths and handicap access on 4 lane highways./s But the FDA NEEDED expansion in Rockville!!
Maryland has some of the highest and most ridiculous taxes in the country.
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