DC Water

“DC Water Notifications?”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by DCbmyers

“Dear PoPville,

I live in Adams Morgan, and our building just received another notice from DC Water saying that the water will be shut off tomorrow for 8 hours. Over the past few weeks, our building has received two additional notices saying that our water would be shut off on other dates, but the water has never actually been shut off at the designated time. Is anyone else experiencing the same issue? It is a little disruptive to prep for long periods of water shut offs that never happen.”

“We had an uprising this week as a colony chose a new queen.”

By Prince Of Petworth

Ed. Note: If you see a swarm please call or text the DC Beekeepers Alliance  at (202) 255-4318 or email [email protected]

Thanks to April Thompson for sending:

“Another Day at the Blue Plains Bee Orphanage

Of the many precious resources Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant captures, orphaned honeybees probably aren’t top of mind. Yet tucked behind behind the Bloom blending pit, a row of brightly painted hives serve as home to recovered bee colonies that produce a few hundreds of pounds of award-winning honey per year. The hives were installed five years ago under the auspices of the DC Beekeepers Alliance, with the help of registered beekeeper Chris Peot, DC Water’s Director of Resource Recovery.

As Peot explains of the photo above, “It is swarm season, as the hives transition out of the winter. In the fall the bees breed siblings that can live 5 months – the rest of the year they live an average of only 42 days. A healthy hive will begin breeding short-life workers as the weather warms, and sometimes they get overcrowded. (more…)

“question about overnight water shut offs.”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I have a question about overnight water shut offs. DC Water shut the water off Friday for 4 hours during the day for emergency repairs, which was fine because it’s easy enough to go to the office or use public bathrooms during the day, but now they’re going to shut it off for 8 hours overnight, (more…)

“Lead Pipe Replacement Program?”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Tim Brown

“Dear PoPville,

As an FYI, I’ve been repeatedly contacting DC Water and DOEEE about what the timeline for lead replacement of the main (and private) water lines are like in DC.

I’ve been contacted by contractors asking us to pay them >$15K to replace our private lead lines that come up to the house from the street. After some digging, I found that all public lead water lines are promised to be replaced by 2030 (and potentially many private lines), but the funding falls far short of getting it done anytime close to then. (more…)

Wait, What?

By Prince Of Petworth

Cheryl asks DC Water: “is the dirt in my home’s water connected to road work in 1400 Block of Florida NW?” (more…)

“Old DC Water Pipes – What are we really drinking?”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

This is a bit long, but I’m reaching out to you about the water pipes in DC in hopes that a fellow Washingtonian might have successfully resolved a similar issue and could offer some guidance! As we hear from the water reports, DC Water has high standards for tap water, drinking straight out of the sink faucet is encouraged. DC Water provides annual water quality results, but data collection sample location is not clear. We stopped drinking the water because of the elevated iron levels. To “mitigate” the situation, DC Water flushes the main hydrant by our house multiple times a week to improve the iron (and chlorine levels), it doesn’t appear any solution such as replacement of corroded pipes (the culprit) will come in our lifetime. We don’t drink or cook with tap water and spend $300+ monthly on water delivery on top of the water consumption for laundry, showers etc. Below is the (long-ish) backstory, I hope to receive some much needed guidance! (more…)

About that Neon Green in the Creek, it was indeed a dye test done by DC Water “The dye will dissipate and is harmless.”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Lisa Kralovic

OK about that neon green spotted in the creek over the weekend, DC Water explains:

“It was our dye test. Our Sewer Operations team is following up on flooding in the 3900 block of Military Road during a recent storm, investigating the link between a drain in the neighborhood and the storm sewer infrastructure. The dye will dissipate and is harmless.”

“Boil Water Advisory lifted for all customers”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Phil

From DC Water:

“Este aviso y más información están también disponibles en www.dcwater.com, y preguntas frecuentes bilingües se encuentran en www.dcwater.com/BWALiftSpanishFAQ.

All DC Water customers in the impact area under the boil water advisory can use tap water for all purposes after following the instructions provided below.

DC Water issued the boil water advisory as a conservative measure to protect public health, and we sincerely appreciate our customers’ patience while we took necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the tap water we deliver. (more…)

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