A close up image of the busted water main in Georgetown.
(Courtesy D.C. Water)
Courtesy D.C. Water
D.C. Water crews investigate the water main break.
(Courtesy D.C. Water)
Courtesy D.C. Water
Traffic has bottlenecked down to one lane in each direction near where the water main broke.
(Courtesy D.C. Water)
Courtesy D.C. Water
D.C. Water’s Vice President of Water Operations, Jason Hughes, (right, fluorescent yellow vest) briefs D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (left, pink jacket) and ANC2E05 Commissioner Lisa Palmer and members of Georgetown’s Business Improvement District about the water main break and its repair process.
(Courtesy D.C. Water)
Courtesy D.C. Water
A water main burst at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street in Georgetown.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
Water gushes on to M Street after a water main broke.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
The Banana Republic store is seen behind the water main break at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
Water flooded into the Banana Republic, which is next to where the water main broke.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
A lot of debris will need to be cleaned up after the water main break in Georgetown.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
The water main break in Georgetown brought up the sidewalk and roadway around the break.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
A water main broke in Georgetown early Friday morning, affecting water resources to about 20 D.C. businesses.
The water main break forced the partial closure of M Street at Wisconsin Avenue, reducing the travel lanes down to one in each direction while work crews began repairs. Wisconsin Ave. is also closed between K Street and M Street.
In a tweet Friday evening, D.C. Water said all repairs were completed. All water services returned back to normal after 8 p.m.
UPDATE: Crew has completed the repairs and re-charged the water main. All customers should be back in water. Also completed temporary restoration of sidewalk for pedestrian traffic. Thank you for your patience.
The 12-inch pipe that broke feeds into a 30-inch pipe. Installed in 1958, the pipe likely failed because of its age.
The force of the water that shot out from the main scraped paint off nearby walls and left the sidewalk and street filled with debris, including bricks.
The break occurred around 4 a.m. D.C. Water found out about the break around 5:21 a.m. but did not get the water shut off until about 6:30 a.m.
WTOP’s Kyle Cooper, who was on the scene, reported that water was shooting 10 to 15 feet into the air and flooding into the Banana Republic at the corner of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue before it was manually shut off.
He shot these videos at the scene:
WTOP’s Kyle Cooper and Matthew Delaney contributed to this story.
Colleen Kelleher is an award-winning journalist who has been with WTOP since 1996. Kelleher joined WTOP as the afternoon radio writer and night and weekend editor and made the move to WTOP.com in 2001. Now she works early mornings as the site's Senior Digital Editor.
