Stock up on water; mandatory water restrictions start today, Tuesday, July 16th at 9pm!
Start stocking up with water and fill your tub! Due to a 54 inch water main that is beginning to fail and must be replaced, mandatory water restrictions will be imposed. This will begin as early as 6pm today - Tuesday. In this hot weather, having enough on hand is critical to your health and others'. If you know people both inside and outside Forest Heights who are also in the affected area, contact them immediately.
Directly from the WSSC site:
Latest News:
"July 16, 2013: The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) is asking customers in portions of southern Prince George’s County to stock up on water in preparation for an impending water outage. A section of pipe in a vital 54-inch concrete pipeline appears to be failing, and parts of Prince George’s County will be without water for several days while repairs are made. Mandatory Restrictions in the affected area will begin at 9PM tonight.
Once the water is shut off to make repairs, there will still be enough water in the system to provide water for another 12-14 hours. However, mandatory water restrictions will be in place to preserve fire fighting capabilities and to make the water supply last while repairs are underway. To find out if you are in the affected area, please visit our online interactive map.
Timeline for Repairs:
- Mandatory water Restrictions will begin at 9PM tonight
- WSSC will refill the system to capacity in the area to be affected
- Once the system is full, WSSC will de-water the pipe to prepare for repairs
- The affected area should have water for approximately 12-15 hours after the water is shut off.
- Repairs will be completed and water will be restored within 3-5 days.
NOTE: Until repairs are complete, it is imperative that all business and residential customers restrict their water use. The less water that is used, the longer it will be available for critical functions to customers in this affected area.
Customers need to:
- Stop all outside water use – no watering lawns, shrubs, flowers; no washing cars, no topping off swimming pools
- Use water only as necessary – i.e., shorter showers and turn off faucets after washing hands
- Limit flushing toilets (do not flush after every use)
- Postpone using washing machines and dishwashers
These mandatory water restrictions apply to WSSC customers, commercial and residential, in the effected area of Prince George’s counties.
WSSC will provide updates through the local media, social media and at www.wsscwater.com until mandatory restrictions are no longer necessary."
For more information, go to wsscwater.com
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Original info at 9:45 PM, July 15, 2013
"A section of pipe in a vital 54-inch concrete pipeline appears to be failing, and parts of Prince George’s County may be without water for a few days while repairs are made. As a result WSSC is urging customers to begin stocking up on water immediately. Prince George’s County Emergency Services will be working with hospitals, nursing homes and others to ensure they have access to water.
Some of the communities likely to be affected include Morningside, Hillcrest Heights, Camp Springs, Forest Heights, Temple Hills, and Oxon Hill, including Joint Base Andrews and the National Harbor. Please check our interactive map to see if you are in the affected area. If you’re not sure, just type your address in the search box on the upper left side of the page.
WSSC expects to issue mandatory water restrictions for the affected area Tuesday afternoon. We hope this will buy additional time for residents to stock up on water and allow WSSC to continue filling its system to extend the time we can provide service.
The pipe is Pre-stressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe (PCCP) and located inside the Beltway between Suitland Parkway and Forestville Road. Our monitoring system has recorded an increasing number of wire breaks in the pipe. That’s a signal that this type of pipe is beginning to fail.
This pipeline is unique in our system in that there is little or no redundancy that could provide water to customers during repairs. That’s why it’s likely tens of thousands of our customers in Prince George’s County will lose service for a few days."
Their direct website: http://www.wsscwater.com/home/jsp/homeAlert.faces
To show how widespread this water emergency is, WSSC has provided a map via the attached link.
Stay hydrated! Stay cool!