Posted on 01/27/2026 5:46:28 AM PST by DFG
The Potomac is facing more than rough waters after a sewage spill near Lockhouse 10 sent E. coli levels soaring far beyond safe limits in Washington, D.C., with new testing revealing contamination thousands of times higher than what’s considered safe for human contact.
Lockhouse 10 is a historic canal lock and restored lockkeeper’s house along the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal, originally used to manage boat traffic on the 19th-century canal and now preserved as a quiet historic site about five miles from the heart of Washington, D.C.
The Potomac Riverkeeper Network (PRKN) released test results from contaminated water along the Potomac River that PRKN President Betsy Nicholas said show impacts far worse than initially believed.
The results showed elevated levels of E. coli bacteria, a type of bacteria commonly found in the intestines of people and animals that are usually harmless but can cause diarrhea and more serious gastrointestinal illness when certain toxin-producing strains contaminate food or water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"These measurements of E. coli bacteria show contamination which is nearly 12,000 times what authorities limit for human contact," Nicholas said. "So far, almost 300 million gallons have entered the Potomac River, and the long-term impact cannot be overstated. We measured against standards established by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality and Maryland’s Department of the Environment.
"We were able to get this information thanks to real-time testing conducted Friday by Dean Naujoks, Potomac Riverkeeper, and Evan Quinter, PRKN volunteer coordinator," she added.
Beyond the initial findings, additional testing conducted along the Potomac River shows how far the contamination spread and how dramatically bacteria levels varied depending on location.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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I guess I’ll cancel my Potomac swimming lesson today
Fanne Fox...please pick up the courtesy phone
so... some liberals went swimming in the Potomac?
How can they tell?
Patomic sewage doesn’t come close to matching the sewage in congress.
“Lockhouse 10 is a historic canal lock and restored lockkeeper’s house along the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal, originally used to manage boat traffic on the 19th-century canal and now preserved as a quiet historic site about five miles from the heart of Washington, D.C.”
Tugs on yer heart strings, right?
But nary a word about the source.
NO discussion of the penalties that might be in store for the source of this “unintended release”.
And, the damage to the “historic site” makes it worser, right?
Because the “source” is a municipal WWTP; nothing to see here, folks.
Slap whichever city is on the hook and make them promise to do better ... maybe some short term sampling to make it look good.
The foul bacterial sewage is in the whole of DC. It has yet to be drained.
Sewage spill into the Potomac? Did they have the Congressional Polar Bear Club swim already?!
Couldn’t happen in a better place.
DC is already a sewer.
How can you tell the difference?
The jokes write themselves.
EC
As if there wasn’t enough sewage coming out of DC already.
Some mornings, the jokes just write themselves...
Is there a way to quickly route a canal through the Capitol Building?
This is really something that could help the country.
“Sewage spill sends E coli surging in the Potomac River near DC”. DC is sewage.
One thing we know for sure is that there won’t be any accountability. There never is.
It’s a 5 foot sewage pipe, and E. coli isn’t the only contaminant. The local DC news videos of this are disgusting.
If a bunch of Maryland and Virginia democRATs went swimming in the Potomac ...
It would poison all the bacteria.
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