Community Corner

Report: Cause of Chevy Chase Water Main Break Still Unknown

The fiber optic monitoring system meant to warn WSSC of impending breaks did not fail, WSSC engineers told Bethesda Now.

Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission engineers still do not know what caused the massive water main break March 18 at Connecticut Avenue and Chevy Chase Lake Drive, but they say that the fiber optic monitoring system installed in the pipes in 2010 did not fail, Bethesda Now reported.

According to Bethesa Now, WSSC chief engineer Gary Gumm told the Montgomery County Council’s Transportation and Environment Committee that the monitoring system detects only the sounds of snapping steel wires in the concrete pipes. Since the steel wires did not snap before the break, the monitoring system could not detect the impending break.

The story quoted Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Bethesda, Potomac), who said the distinction offered "very little comfort" to the community since the purpose of the system was to warm people.

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A full forensic report on what caused the water main to break is expected in June. Read more about Monday's briefing on Bethesda Now's website.

On March 18, a massive geyser and crater, and 60 million gallons of water were lost—necessitating mandatory water restrictions for five days in two counties.

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No one was hurt by the water main break.

The Post reported that a Chevy Chase resident noticed "water squirting up from an opening in a circular metal plate embedded in Chevy Chase Lake Drive" about seven hours before the water main break. An inspector found what he thought was a leak in the valve and determined that it could wait until the morning.

The Post also reported that the broken pipe was made by Interpace, a defunct company in New Jersey that "the WSSC and other utilities successfully sued for flaws that left the pipes more prone to breaking." Most of WSSC's 350 miles of concrete water mains were made by Interpace, Jim Neustadt, a WSSC spokesman, told The Post.


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