More than 1.9 million customers across Montgomery and Prince George’s counties are being advised to use water only as absolutely necessary as the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission works to restore power to its Potomac filtration plant.
The company issued an initial advisory Tuesday morning, and said in an update just after 3 p.m. that customers should continue to conserve water. Earlier advisories indicated that water was still safe and “there is no need to boil before essential use,” but WSSC Water said it would have to issue a boil water order if the issue was not resolved soon. The plant provides water for 70% to 75% of all WSSC Water customers.
The company emphasized that residents should limit water use to prevent a boil water advisory. The restriction is meant to help preserve resources “for system storage and fire protection as Pepco crews work to restore electrical service to the plant,” WSSC Water said.
The company urged customers to take short showers, turn off faucets immediately after use and avoid unnecessary outdoor water use, flushing the toilet after every use and using washing machines and dishwashers.
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Customers have flooded WSSC Water’s social media, asking what caused the outage. The utility said it is still working with Pepco to recover the plant’s operational capacity and that the conservation request will be lifted when water production is restored.
In a statement to The Washington Sun, Pepco said electrical service is available to the facility and “initial findings show the issue affecting operations is with WSSC equipment.”
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