DC Water repairs Potomac Interceptor, returning flow to pipe after sewage spill

Nearly two months after the Potomac Interceptor broke, sending hundreds of thousands of gallons of raw sewage tumbling into the Potomac River, DC Water says repairs to the underground sewer line are complete.

DC Water returned flow to the Potomac Interceptor on Saturday afternoon, after testing in the morning confirmed it could safely be done.

With media present to watch what they called a “milestone event,” DC Water removed the emergency bulkhead gate that blocked raw sewage from flowing into the part of the pipe that was broken, and shut down the bypass pumps that sent that wastewater into the C&O Canal.

Though the pipe that broke on Jan. 19 is now fixed, there is still much work to do to fix the environmental effects of the spill.

When the Potomac Interceptor collapsed, it sent more than 234 million gallons of wastewater into the Potomac River. Another 60 million gallons of sewage had to be pushed through the C&O Canal each day.

The sewer line repairs required large machinery and manual labor to accomplish, due to large boulders that fell into the pipe after the collapse. Other complicating factors, like a clog created by non-flushable wipes during the Super Bowl, also extended the timeline.

Now that the pipe itself is fixed, the process of cleaning up the massive spill along the Potomac will take months, officials told News4 in early March.

According to DC Water, much of the cleanup will be done by hand and does not include treatment for contamination farther downstream in Maryland or D.C.

The cleanup is expected to continue well into the summer.