BETHESDA, Md. — With the drop in temperatures across the DMV since the holiday weekend, Montgomery County has seen a significant number of water main breaks as well as broken water pipes. The most recent incident happened at a water main located at Wisconsin and Bethesda avenues in Bethesda.
On Tuesday morning, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) Water confirmed to WUSA9 that they were aware of the break to the water main and were working to make repairing. They did not provide a timeframe for the fix, but WSSC stated in a Dec. 21 news release that typical repairs can take four to six hours after digging and uncovering the damaged pipe.
The issues the water main breaks are experiencing are due to the Potomac River experiencing a drop in temperature.
"Between Dec. 9 and 15, the Potomac River dropped six degrees to a new low temperature for the season," WSSC said. "On Dec. 16, WSSC Water experienced 22 water main breaks, the largest one-day total of breaks this season."
Over the holiday weekend crews with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service responded to hundreds of broken water pipes, which they say were mostly domestic and a few commercial. They also responded to associated fire alarms, most of which were triggered by water flow alarms, according to spokesperson Pete Piringer. WSSC crews also responded to dozens of these breaks as well.
WSSC repairs around 1,800 water main breaks/leaks each year, with 65% happening during the four coldest months, November through February. They have repaired 432 water main breaks/leaks since the beginning of November.