Huge Water Pipe in Danger of Bursting

Board member Elliot Postow has alerted the board to a breaking story.  Elliot says, "There is a big problem with a  96" water main at Tuckerman and Gainsborough.  This is the largest in the WSSC system, the River Rd main was 66".  Elliot has provided a link to the online Washington Post story.  Here is an excerpt:

The WSSC is advising customers to stop all outside water use and to limit flushing toilets and use of washing machines and dishwashers.
The agency issued the restrictions after an inspection found a failing 96-inch water main near the corner of Tuckerman Lane and Gainsborough Road in Potomac. Repairs are underway to ensure that fire departments in Montgomery and Prince George's counties have adequate pressure to fight fires.
The 96-inch concrete pipe -- the biggest in WSSC's system -- was installed in 1969 and was last inspected three years ago, WSSC spokesman Jim Neustadt said. After that inspection, crews left behind fiber-optic equipment to detect the "ping" sounds created when the reinforcing steel wires snap from corrosion after groundwater seeps through the pipe's decaying concrete walls.
It was a relative flurry of "ping" sounds -- one detected Tuesday afternoon and seven more within a half-hour just after midnight Wednesday -- that triggered an alarm warning that the pipe was in danger of bursting, Neustadt said.  

Please follow this advise on water usage (from the Post article) for the next several days so that the fire departments in Montgomery and Price George's Counties will have adequate water pressure to fight fires.

About 1.8 million people in Montgomery and Prince George's counties have been ordered to stop watering their lawns and washing their cars and limit their use of toilets, dishwashers and washing machines through the Fourth of July weekend after officials shut down a huge water main in Potomac on Thursday.

 Here is the link to the Washington Post Article:

Washington Post story on a possible bursting water pipe