Water rushing at 15 and N, NW

“Dear PoPville,

What’s the deal here? It’s been going like this for hours and possibly over a day. Can they not stop it? Last night N St. was starting to flood. Didn’t have a chance to check it out this morning, but hopefully it has stopped. There must be a reason but still seems so wasteful.

Photo is facing west on N from 15th toward Scott Circle.”

A few folks have been inquiring as to what’s going on here. Thanks to DC Water’s Alan Heymann for the quick response:

“Thanks for asking!

We have a leaking 72-inch water main at the location your reader pointed out. To fix the leak, our crews must turn off water service to the pipe and drain it. As you can imagine, a pipe that is large enough for most people to stand up inside can hold quite a bit of water. So yes, this is intentional and we’re draining many, many gallons.

It may appear that this work is a waste of water. On the other hand, an unrepaired leak on a 6-foot water main could lead to a break, which could disrupt water service, cause property damage or lead to even more loss of water from the system.

Good question… please keep them coming.

Your readers can always feel free to reach out to us directly by phone at (202) 612-3400, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter, @dcwater.”