Richmond water crisis raises questions: Could it happen in DC?

We need water to do almost anything – to drink, to bathe, to wash our clothes. But what if all of that suddenly had to stop?

The backstory:

It’s what just happened in Richmond, where officials said last week’s snowstorm caused a power outage and flooding at the city’s water plant. That led to people and businesses going without water for days.

What they're saying:

So, naturally, many in the greater Washington region then asked, could what happened in Richmond also happen here?

"You can never drive risk down to zero, so you can’t say, ‘Oh it would never happen here,’ but what I would say is water utilities in the Washington metro region are very well-prepared against things like a power outage," said Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Water Resources Director Steve Bieber.

He added there are a number of reasons why. Among them, Bieber said the area’s large water treatment plants have dual electric feeds from separate sources.

"So," he explained, "the idea behind that is if the power were to go out at one substation, you’re reducing the likelihood that it’s also out somewhere else."

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Bieber also praised the area’s local utilities, specifically mentioning how WSSC Water has handled well over 200 water main breaks since the beginning of the year.

"I do think it’s a really good example of proactive messaging. We know there’s an issue. Here’s what you can do to help us, so we don’t have a bigger problem," Bieber said.

Combine that with frequent emergency exercises and mutual aid agreements, and the hope is local officials have done enough to prevent anything resembling what happened in Richmond from happening here.

The Source: The information in this article comes from FOX 5 reporting and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Water Resources Director Steve Bieber.

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