Water tests in Montgomery County (web|news) have met drinking water standards with no signs of harmful bacteria, effectively lifting a boil order for the area plagued by a water main break since Monday.

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission tested water samples taken throughout the areas of the county, affected by the water main break earlier in the week. The test results confirm the water is safe to drink, therefore lifting the boil order for restaurants and homeowners.

"This has been a very difficult week for those residents and businesses affected by the water main break, as well as for the WSSC and County employees who have worked around the clock to make sure that our residents remained safe throughout this ordeal," said County Executive Isiah Leggett. "This incident has reinforced the County's strong position for added resources and more focus on addressing the backlog of WSSC maintenance."

Crews are still working to repair the 48-inch water main that broke at the beginning of the week, causing all the problems. The work is expected to take a week.

"Providing safe, reliable water to our customers is paramount for WSSC," said Teresa D. Daniell, WSSC Interim General Manager. "We understand that the disruption in service was an inconvenience to the residents and businesses that we serve. However, WSSC needed to take all necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of everyone who uses our water."

» WSSC recommends the following steps to ensure no health threats remain: Flush household pipes/faucets by running all cold water faucets for 5 minutes each. Flush home automatic icemakers and make three batches of ice cubes, discarding all three batches before using. Before using, wipe out icemakers with a solution of two tablespoons of household bleach to one gallon of water. Food service facilities should allow water to run for five minutes at each tap to flush the lines with safe water. Misters and drinking fountains should also be flushed, as well as soda machines. Icemakers should also be flushed and cleaned and the first three batches of ice should be discarded.

With the boil order lifted, WSSC invites anyone with more questions to visit their website for a complete list of frequently asked questions. » link - Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

The county also forced an estimated 1,200 restaurants in the service area to shut their doors because of fears over contamined water. "I cannot use the ice unless I buy the ice away from here at a different market," Punam Singh said.

Singh owns three restaurants in Wheaton. They were all closed Monday night. "About $10,000 a day for us. Big loss. Big loss for small business owners."

As for restaurants and other food services, guidelines have been published at the county's website. » link - Montgomery County

Wheaton resident Eric Langston was counting down the days to the end of the restrictions. "I can't buy my construction crews water unless I go to Virginia because all the bottled water is out of the shopping centers."

The tests were performed on water samples from a variety of locations within the affected area. 

The first round of tests of Montgomery County water returned a negative result, and the results of the second round also came back negative.

In a startling failure of administrative communication, alerts about the water main break were delayed because the only two people in Montgomery County's Homeland Security Office who knew how to use the emergency email notification system were out of town when the break occurred. Director Gordon Aoyagi says no employees will be disciplined, but he says he will look for training issues.

If you have health-related questions, you can call 240-777-4200. For more information about the water main break and repair, call WSSC at 301-206-8000.
The utility first noticed the problem Sunday night, when it was inundated with calls from residents whose homes were experiencing low water pressure or getting no water at all.

The utility was unable to identify the location of the rupture until Monday morning, when it was found in a remote location near Muncaster Mill Road and Meadowside Lane in Derwood. The broken 48-inch transmission line created a rushing river of water in a wooded area in a branch of Rock Creek regional park.
In all, close to 100 million gallons of water were lost.