Water shortage advisory goes into effect in south Prince George's County

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — Jackie Foster has been serving her Clinton customers cool icy treats at her shop, Rita’s Ice, for the past 18 years. When she heard that folks in south Prince George’s County were being asked to cut back on water, only one question went through her mind.

“What’re we going to do?” she asked with a laugh. “What’re we going to do? Because we’re a water-based business.”

WSSC Water made the announcement on Monday, saying that its early warning technology installed in the pipes detected that one of its water mains under Dower House Road was failing. 

Now WSSC Water is asking around 110,000 residents in south Prince George’s County to stop all outdoor water use, whether it’s watering your lawn or washing your car. As far as indoor use, the utility company is asking to find ways to cut back, like taking showers instead of baths and making the showers shorter.

Longtime Maryland residents remember the last time when one of the pipes failed.

“If you were around and you remember 2008, December 23, the pipe on River Road broke and literally turned River Road into a river,” said WSSC Water’s Lyn Ruggins.

People in Montgomery County could only watch as a burst pipe in North Bethesda shot 150,000 gallons of water onto River Road every minute, and drivers had to be airlifted to safety. Now, the new system allows the utility company to be proactive about repairs, and know if its pipes lose their structural integrity.

But as crews work over the next three days, the region will be on reserves, and WSSC says it’ll be vital those reserves last, or risk going under a boil water advisory.

“You run the risk, possible risk, of contamination in those areas, which is why, in those scenarios, we issue boil water advisories,” Riggins explained. “So if we ran out of water in this area, number one, customers wouldn’t have water, we’d have the boil water advisory in place, and another thing to remember is fire protection. We need to make sure we have water in the distribution system in the event of a house fire or building fires.”

Foster says she appreciates WSSC Water’s early warning, and hopes she’s done enough to prepare.

“What we decided to do was to start making ice early this morning, the popular ice that moves very quickly,” she said. “I think we’ll be ok, also, this is the end of our season, we close for the season Oct. 6, so it’s not as busy, so if it’s going to happen, this is the best time.”