1.9M WSSC customers asked to conserve water after power outage at water filtration plant
MONTGEOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — WSSC Water is asking its 1.9 million customers to use water only for essential purposes and is warning it may have to issue a boil water advisory after electrical problems have left the utility unable to use its largest water filtration plant.
The problem started with a power outage Tuesday morning at the Potomac Water Filtration Plant on River Road in Montgomery County. But even after Pepco said power was restored Tuesday afternoon, WSSC Water reported that an “unknown electrical problem” was preventing it from getting the plant operational so it could produce water.
As of 5:30 p.m., the plant is once again producing water, though officials urged customers to limit water use, according to a statement from a WSSC Water spokesperson.
WSSC Water spokesperson Lyn Riggins told 7News that the filtration plant normally has two power feeds from Pepco, so there is a backup feed if one loses power. But she said one of the feeds was taken offline in mid-September for routine maintenance, and the other one lost power this morning. Crews worked to get the one undergoing maintenance back up and running again, but even after power was restored, the electrical problem prevented the plant from treating water again.
Riggins said the plant relies on the two feeds because there is no generator on site capable of providing the large amount of power necessary to run the plant.
“We need power for the pumps to bring the water into the plant, and then obviously plant operations to treat the water, and then send the water back into the distribution system,” Riggins said.
Riggins said although WSSC’s 60-plus storage tanks in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties were full when the power outage happened, they don’t contain enough water to last long unless customers conserve water.
“It is limited to several hours’ worth of water,” she said. “We can’t go several days without producing water at the Potomac Water Filtration Plant, which is our largest plant. There is another one, the Patuxent plant, but that can’t meet the demand for all 1.9 million customers.”
WSSC Water said immediate conservation could help avoid a boil water advisory while preserving water for fire protection and system storage. The utility said it is still experiencing an “unknown electrical problem” at the Potomac Filtration Plant, which is impacting its ability to bring the facility back online. If power is not restored soon, a boil water advisory may be necessary.
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Customers are being asked to take shorter showers, turn off faucets quickly, avoid outdoor water use and irrigation, limit toilet flushing, and hold off on using washing machines and dishwashers when possible.
The utility’s other filtration plant, the Patuxent plant, remains operational but cannot meet customer demand on its own, according to WSSC Water.
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The Potomac plant supplies drinking water to about 75% of WSSC Water customers. It typically produces 100 million to 120 million gallons of drinking water per day.
Average customer demand is about 170 million gallons daily.