The Broken Sewer Line That Filled The Potomac River With Poop Has Been Repaired. What Happens Next? - Washingtonian

"After 55 days of construction, which involved enough gravel to cover four football fields and enough fuel to power a dozen homes for a whole year, the pipe is once again funneling sewage from Fairfax and Loudoun Counties to the Blue Plains Advanced Water Treatment Plant in Southwest DC."

"DC Water crews are working to clean up the C&O Canal, where a temporary bypass system had been diverting wastewater away from the broken Potomac Interceptor pipe segment during repairs. A freshwater dam upstream of the spill site will "help flush out residual waste and contaminants" in the canal, the agency said in a press release; meanwhile, workers are vacuuming "sludge" out of the waterway."

"It just sort of looks like total destruction in a few areas where you can't really tell what's the canal and what's the ground, and it's all brown and gross. Before the rupture, DC Water already planned to spend $625 million over the course of a decade to upgrade the Potomac Interceptor, which is more than 60 years old."

DC Water finished repairing the Potomac Interceptor pipe, a major sewer line that ruptured in January and discharged approximately 300 million gallons of sewage into the Potomac River. The 55-day repair project required substantial resources, including enough gravel to cover four football fields and significant fuel consumption. The pipe now resumes its function of transporting wastewater from Fairfax and Loudoun Counties to the Blue Plains Advanced Water Treatment Plant in Southwest DC. Cleanup efforts focus on the C&O Canal, where a temporary bypass system had diverted wastewater during repairs. DC Water is using a freshwater dam upstream to flush residual contaminants and vacuuming sludge from the waterway. The agency had already planned a $625 million upgrade program for the 60-year-old, 54-mile pipe over the next decade.

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