When the Potomac Interceptor sewer line collapsed, the nation’s capital narrowly avoided a drinking water crisis — again.
Hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River when a pipe ruptured on Jan. 19. (mpi34/MediaPunch/IPX via AP Images)
The worst-case scenario would begin with a boil water warning.
By the next morning, faucets and toilets in the nation’s capital would spew brown water — even at the Capitol, the White House and the Pentagon.
Schools and businesses would have to close, and Congress would go out of session indefinitely. Life in the contamination zone would come to a standstill.
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