Testing shows Potomac River is healthy after January sewer line collapse
There is no evidence of lasting harm to the Potomac River after January’s sewer line collapse, DC Water testing has found.
It’s a relief for D.C.-area residents concerned that hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage that spilled into the Potomac earlier this year had long-term impacts on the environment.
DC Water began expanded testing in August “to get a broader picture of the river’s health,” the utility said in a news release.
Bacteria levels, oxygen levels, nutrients and metals in the river water are all within the normal range for the river, DC Water said.
The expanded testing “collected samples five times at six locations in Maryland, both upstream and downstream of the overflow,” DC Water said.
“The results were within the normal range for the river. They found no current signs of harm from the overflow,” DC Water said.
The environmental crisis began Jan. 19, when a sewage pipeline known as the Potomac Interceptor ruptured and sent more than 240 million gallons of sewage into the river.
Early testing by the Potomac Riverkeepers showed hazardously high levels of E. coli bacteria in the area near the spill.
It took days for DC Water crews to divert most of that sewage into the empty C&O Canal, which carried it back to the sewage system. Even then, the leak was not fully repaired until March.
Washington, D.C. began daily testing of the water at the end of February. The city lifted its public safety warning about the water soon after, saying E. coli levels had dropped to a safer margin.
Montgomery County lifted some restrictions on Potomac River access in March, when test results showed water quality was improving.
Yet local businesses based along the river were still feeling the effects in June, when the public perceived the water as unsafe despite testing that showed otherwise.
DC Water’s board of directors voted in early June to remove David Gadis, the CEO at the time of the spill.
“We know many in the community, especially people who use the river, have been concerned or had questions,” DC Water Interim General Manager Matthew T. Brown said in the release. “That is why we did more testing. The results are reassuring. They reconfirm what earlier testing indicated — that the river has returned to normal.”
You can view DC Water’s testing data here.
