Crews make progress in controlling sewage spill, but timeline remains 4-6 weeks

Over the weekend, DC Water crews made more progress in controlling the ongoing sewage spill that has poured more than 240 million gallons of raw sewage and waste water into the Potomac River.

D.C. Water reports no additional significant overflow has reached the Potomac River in more than a week, since non-disposable wipes that were flushed down toilets caused pumps to fail, sending more than 600,000 gallons of sewage into the river on Super Bowl Sunday.

More high-capacity pumps have been added to the site, allowing crews to divert the sewage from the broken pipe through the C&O Canal, where they added a third flume to direct the sewage back in to the underground pipeline

But large boulders continue to obstruct the line, requiring more work before the underground line is repaired enough that it can return to normal service with no more threats of overflows. That work is estimated to take another four to six weeks.

President Donald Trump weighed in on Truth Social Monday, blaming local Democratic leaders, particularly Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, for the spill and pledged federal involvement moving forward.

Moore sent a statement responding to the president’s post claiming the federal government is responsible for the Potomac Interceptor where the sewage leak occurred. Moore said the Trump administration has failed to act and Maryland has played its part in protecting residents.

Clearing up confusion on repair timelines

DC Water is eager to clear up some confusion in the timelines for the repairs. While the estimates for repairing the pipeline is about four to six weeks, additional work will continue at the site for up to nine months.

On Friday, when DC Water officials testified before the Maryland House of Delegates, they presented a slide showing a timeline which included a reference to nine months of work before permanent repairs are completed.

That nine months of work, however, refers to preplanned upgrades to that section of pipe. That work was previously on the schedule to be completed in 2027. However, it will be done now since the pipe is fully exposed, DC Water says.

Again, the completion of the work that will eliminate the threat of anymore overflows is expected to be completed within six weeks. Until then, the threat remains for overflow to go into the Potomac River, and millions gallons of raw sewage continue to flow through the C&O Canal every day.

DC Water has not released any plan for cleaning up the area once the pipe is repaired.

Local jurisdictions continue to do water testing and warn the public not to come in contact with the Potomac River anywhere downriver of the American Legion Bridge.