Sewage along the Custis Trail?

[rcannon100]

Arlington DES

General Inquiries
2100 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 900
Arlington, VA 22201
Email
Greg Emanuel, Director
Customer Call Center
Hours: Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
703-228-6570

Water & Sewer Emergencies
703-228-6555 (24-hour hotline)

[notlost]

UPDATE:

It was (is) sewage! Arlington County has a crew out there as of 9:45pm working on the problem. In the meantime, it might be good to avoid the wet spots on the Custis trail under the high school parking lot.

And maybe wash your bike/clothes if you haven’t been avoiding them…

Thanks for the contact info Mr. Cannon!

[PotomacCyclist]

It’s actually a good habit to avoid a lot of wet places at streams and rivers, such as Four Mile Run and the Potomac River during and after any moderate to heavy rain. When there is only a moderate amount of rain, the storm water overflows from the storm sewer system, mixes with the sanitary sewer system and pours untreated into rivers and streams. I don’t remember the exact threshold for the rain to overflow, but it isn’t that high. Something like half an inch. Maybe a little less or a little more. It happens dozens of times a year in this area and in most cities with older combined sewer systems.

So anytime you ride in the rain and you approach water sources (perhaps on the Four Mile Run Trail or on the Mt. Vernon Trail next to the Potomac River), you should consider that water to contain untreated sewage.

If you’re wondering, DC is doing something about their problem. They are currently undertaking a large-scale project (well over $1 billion) to dig three or four (?) massive tunnels under the District. The work is currently going on, in NW (I think), along the Anacostia River and near Poplar Point or somewhere to the south. Massive tunnel-boring machines are digging these tunnels. In the future, when there is a moderate or heavy rainstorm, the excess water will be stored in these tunnels until the rain ends. Then the storm water can be released slowly into the combined sewer system for proper treatment of the sanitary sewage, before being released back into the Potomac. There will still be a few days with untreated sewage overflow, but much less than we see currently.

[baiskeli]

@PotomacCyclist 114750 wrote:

It’s actually a good habit to avoid a lot of wet places at streams and rivers, such as Four Mile Run and the Potomac River during and after any moderate to heavy rain. When there is only a moderate amount of rain, the storm water overflows from the storm sewer system, mixes with the sanitary sewer system and pours untreated into rivers and streams.

I just looked it up — DC and Alexandria have combined sewage overflows, but thankfully there aren’t any in Arlington county. However, there are leaks and plumbing mistakes that let sewage out. A few years back they found that an apartment building had a pipe draining its sewage straight out into the streams instead of the sewage pipes, just because some idiot got it wrong. It had been that way for decades.

If you’re wondering, DC is doing something about their problem. They are currently undertaking a large-scale project (well over $1 billion) to dig three or four (?) massive tunnels under the District.

Yeah, there was a story in the Post yesterday about the elaborate process of maintaining the giant digger thingy.

[chris_s]

@baiskeli 114757 wrote:

I just looked it up — DC and Alexandria have combined sewage overflows, but thankfully there aren’t any in Arlington county. However, there are leaks and plumbing mistakes that let sewage out. A few years back they found that an apartment building had a pipe draining its sewage straight out into the streams instead of the sewage pipes, just because some idiot got it wrong. It had been that way for decades.

In general urban streams have a bacteria problem. A lot of it is pet waste washing into the streams every time it rains, so pick up after your pets people!

Arlington monitors the bacteria levels in the streams and makes the data available online if you’re interested. Here is the page for Four Mile Run:
http://environment.arlingtonva.us/streams/stream-monitoring/four-mile-run/

Take a gander at the chart for the area below the dog park. Eww.

[PotomacCyclist]

Even if that’s the case in Arlington, people who ride on the MVT would still be affected. The overflow from DC enters the Potomac River. During and after heavy rainstorms, sections of the MVT can get flooded by the river.

[baiskeli]

@chris_s 114760 wrote:

Arlington monitors the bacteria levels in the streams and makes the data available online if you’re interested. Here is the page for Four Mile Run:
http://environment.arlingtonva.us/streams/stream-monitoring/four-mile-run/

BTW, stream monitoring uses volunteers. We’ve done it. It’s fun, especially for kids, because part of it is scooping for little bugs and stuff that live in the water and identifying and counting them.

[notlost]

@PotomacCyclist 114764 wrote:

Even if that’s the case in Arlington, people who ride on the MVT would still be affected. The overflow from DC enters the Potomac River. During and after heavy rainstorms, sections of the MVT can get flooded by the river.

Eh, much less of a deal once diluted. I mean, swimming/drinking is probably not the best idea, but still not the same as riding through some good ol fashioned untreated wastewater .

[PotomacCyclist]

It’s more than just a little sewage though. With some heavy storms, there can be as much as several million gallons of untreated sewage flowing directly into the Potomac River in DC. You’re definitely going to notice that much of a mess. 638 million gallons of untreated sewage flows into the Potomac every year because of rainstorms and the combined sewer system. That’s approaching 2 million gallons per day including all the rain-free days. When you only count the rainy days, the overflow is much more than 2 million gallons on many of those days.

I wouldn’t want to ride next to a sewer break, but I wouldn’t want to ride through the flooded trail either.

[baiskeli]

@notlost 114809 wrote:

Eh, much less of a deal once diluted. I mean, swimming/drinking is probably not the best idea, but still not the same as riding through some good ol fashioned untreated wastewater .

Still, avoiding possibly dangerous water is like wearing a helmet – maybe not that important, but it’s easier to not find out if this is the one time your odds run out.

[mstone]

@PotomacCyclist 114815 wrote:

It’s more than just a little sewage though. With some heavy storms, there can be as much as several million gallons of untreated sewage flowing directly into the Potomac River in DC. You’re definitely going to notice that much of a mess.

Yeah, you can smell it.

[mstone]

@baiskeli 114821 wrote:

Still, avoiding possibly dangerous water is like wearing a helmet – maybe not that important, but it’s easier to not find out if this is the one time your odds run out.

It’s all fun and games until someone picks up a multi-drug-resistant organism.

[Vicegrip]

Fenders for the win!

[baiskeli]

@mstone 114825 wrote:

It’s all fun and games until someone picks up a multi-drug-resistant organism.

I’m struggling to figure out an analogy to helmets here. Maybe wearing a helmet makes your head soft?

[baiskeli]

This thread is full of crap.

[Author]

Posts