@futurebird I don’t know, but it seems abnormal: https://zirk.us/@APBBlue/112725991815164341
This is a precautionary measure, for the time being. There hasn’t been a confirmed compromise of the supply, but they are currently testing, they say, so we’ll find out soon. 🤞
@b_cavello@futurebird I've never seen a DC Water emergency impacting the whole District (and out to Arlington); there's been recurring boil advisories, like a couple a year for the past few years, around Rhode Island Ave in NE so I thought the system was more like the electrical grid where like one substation can go out and it just impacts the immediate surrounding area, I don't really understand what's going on right now
All systems have to issue local boil water notices from time to time because of pressure drops from things like main breaks.
This was a full system boil water notice. They are very rare in the United States, at least for large metros like DC. For those of us working in drinking water utilities, it's what we strive to avoid with everything we do.
There was one a number of years ago in Portland, Oregon which is why they were forced to build a 1.8B filtration plant.
We had one in Boston 14 years ago. The entire city and 28 surrounding towns were on boil water for ~3 days. A juncture on the 120" service pipe exploded and leaked over 8 million gallons an hour.
Hi and thanks for the explanation.
I don't get why a pressure drop should entail a boil water notice ?
(maybe that's because I don't understand what a main break is)