There are 27 water main breaks and leaks in Montgomery County as of Wednesday morning as crews continue repair work, according to WSSC Water.
According to WSSC, there has been a significant increase in water main breaks and leaks due to frigid temperatures. Earlier this week there was an essential-water-use-only request for its nearly two million customers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
Many crews are responding and repairing the breaks, according to WSSC. Drivers are asked to drive carefully when they see a crew working and enter a work zone.
There are 56 main breaks and leaks throughout WSSC’s service area in both counties as of Wednesday morning.
“I don’t think any of us anticipated this level of breaks,” County Executive Marc Elrich said during a media briefing Wednesday afternoon, “and I think we have to be cognizant of what we’re funding and are we funding it enough that we’re going to be able to avoid this. Just because you don’t fund it when they present [the budget] to us, doesn’t mean you don’t fund it when the thing breaks.”
Elrich said a large portion of WSSC’s infrastructure is more than 50 years old — “The pipe that broke on Wisconsin Avenue might have been 93 years old.”
“Obviously these repairs were not in the WSSC budget and they’re going to have to make do with the resources they have,” he said. “We’ll see if they come back to us during the actual budget, and make any recommendations about where they think they might need to go.”
