D.C. Water said that all tap water was affected by the precautionary boil water advisory after 9 p.m. Wednesday, and customers should get rid of any beverages or ice made since then.
D.C. and Arlington County, Virginia, issued a boil water advisory late Wednesday night that essentially affects the entirety of both jurisdictions.
D.C. Water said that all tap water was affected by the precautionary boil water advisory after 9 p.m. Wednesday, and customers should get rid of any beverages or ice made since then.
“This advisory will remain in place until follow-up testing confirms the water is safe to drink,” D.C. Water said, and the same message applies to those in Arlington.
Only a small portion of Arlington called the Willston Pressure Zone, which borders Fairfax County near the intersection of McKinley Road and Wilson Boulevard, has not been impacted by the advisory.
The Arlington County government said, “Higher levels of turbidity have been observed in water held at the Aqueduct, which is sourced from the Potomac River and also serves the District of Columbia. Customers may notice their water looks cloudy or hazy.”
The high levels of turbidity — the amount of visible particles in tap water — can impact “the effectiveness of the water treatment process,” the county wrote in a statement.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the Aqueduct, told D.C. Water that they were having issues with elevated turbidity levels in their waters, which are caused by increases in algae blooms in the Potomac River.
John Lisle, a spokesperson with D.C. Water told WTOP that the advisory was taken out of an abundance of caution to allow fire emergency personnel access to water, especially on a flashy holiday like the Fourth of July, and to allow enough water to flush out of the system.
“Turbidity can be a sign of error, an indicator of (poor) water quality. And so because of that, it was determined that the safest thing to do was to issue the boil water advisory,” Lisle said.
U.S. ACE said the Washington Aqueduct staff will continue to closely monitor water levels and coordinate with its wholesale customers, the EPA, and local and state agencies.
All customers are advised to run cold water, bring it to a rolling boil for at least one minute and let it cool before drinking it or using it to brush teeth, prepare food, wash food, prepare infant formula, make ice, wash dishes or give to pets.
D.C. Water warns against using home filtering devices in place of boiling water.
This story is developing. Stay with WTOP for the latest details.
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