WSSC admits hundreds of major water valves need repair

WASHINGTON — When water mains break, one of the first things utility crews
have to do is stop the flow of water. That means locating some of the massive
valves in the system and shutting off the water. The hitch can come when crews
dig underground into the “valve vaults” and find that the valves are so corroded,
they simply don’t turn.

The problem was underscored in 2013 when, in the middle of a blistering heat
wave, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission was faced with having to cut
water off to much of Prince George’s County due in part to a large valve that
wouldn’t budge. Keeping the water flowing came down to a determined crew of four
WSSC workers who insisted on finding a way to repair the stuck valve. Though the
problem of aging and inoperable valves got attention at the time, the Washington
Post reports
that of 350 large valves that have been inspected so far, 60
percent were inoperable.

Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner, who heads a council committee on
issues related to utilities, was briefed on the report and said, “I’m deeply
disappointed that our system has deteriorated to such a degree that we can’t open
a valve in an emergency situation.”

Jerry Irvine, public affairs manager at WSSC, says there are tens of thousands of
valves in the system that serves Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

According to Irvine, more than 700 of the larger valves were installed between
1920 and 1960 and need replacement or repair. Irvine says the current poor
condition of the older, larger valves is a direct result of what he called the
“gutting” of crews that specialized in checking and maintaining the valves. And
he blames that on budget cuts dating back more than a decade.

The problem with the large valve in 2013 put new emphasis on the condition of the
system’s valves. Irvine says, “Next summer we will hire a team of people
dedicated to doing nothing but locating, exercising, and where possible
identifying for replacement all of our large valves.”

See WTOP coverage of the work of
those four crew members in 2013 here. You can see the size of the valves they
work with.

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