A raw sewage leak prompted Arlington County officials to warn residents of contaminated water in a popular local stream for the second timein as many months, while crews work to repair an aging wastewater system.
“We had a blocked line and it was leaking out the top of a manhole,” said Dave Hundelt, an engineer with the county’s water and sewage department. The spilled waste contaminated the waters of Four Mile Run and surrounding areas.
“It was spilling out across the ground, and eventually it was getting into a storm sewer inlet and then into the stream,” Hundelt said.
Untreated waste contains bacteria such as E. coli that can cause intestinal illness if ingested or exposed to cuts or abrasions.
Arlington is undertaking a massive project to rehabilitate its system of sewer pipes — built more than half a century ago, said Jason Papacosma, the county’s watershed program manager.
The rehab project — begun in the mid-1990s — will extend the life of the county’s enfeebled wastewater system.
But with just seven to eight miles of the 460-mile system being repaired each year, the project is 20 percent complete and could stretch over the next 50 years.
The county targeted older sections first in an effort to head off potential leaks, Hundelt said. But problems like the Alcova Heights Park leak occur, causing wastewater engineers to shift their efforts.
Water and sewer agencies throughout the area are scrambling to replace aging pipes, some of which were installed as long ago as the 1800s. Customers’ bills have increased as the agencies pay for the improvements and head off accidents like the recent Arlington spill.
