DC Water: September 18, 2012 Update

From the folks at DC Water:
 

September 18, 2012 Update

Bloomingdale/LeDroit Park Update - September 18, 2012
Dear Customers,
It has been two weeks since our last email message. My agency and the others taking part in the Mayor's Task Force are making important progress on the flooding issues in your neighborhoods, and I would like to offer you some updates.

1. Sewer inspections. DC Water contractors have inspected and cleaned about 40,000 linear feet of sewers in Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park, or about 36 percent of the total. The company performing this service has until October 31 to complete the inspections, but is aiming to do so sooner. We have added several segments to cover Sherman Avenue, Vermont Avenue and part of Florida Avenue as a result of sewer backups and flooding that occurred in the September storm. These will be inspected by mid-November.
   As of yet, the inspections have not revealed any blockages or defects that would explain neighborhood-wide flooding or sewer backups. In the next few weeks, we will also provide some general information for the community about how exactly the sewer inspection and cleaning process works.
2. Claims. A number of you may have heard about a damage claim being denied. This claim affected one building in LeDroit Park. The denial letter was issued in error, and our insurance company retracted it immediately. We are not ruling on any claims until the investigation into the causes of the four flooding incidents is complete - including the sewer inspections.
3. Rain barrels. Through the District Department of the Environment's RiverSmart Homes program, residents of Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park can receive free rain barrels or cisterns. DDOE will begin taking applications October 1, and will schedule a consultation at your home to determine which container works best. The consultation, the device, and the installation are available at no charge. We have attached a flyer about this program, which we are also mailing to the homes in Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park that are eligible for our backflow preventer rebate program.
4. Inflatable dams. We have received some questions about whether inflatable dams at the end of the Northeast Boundary Trunk Sewer, which serves Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park, might have been involved in the flooding and sewer backups in those neighborhoods this summer. The answer is no. Attached is a detailed engineering explanation of how the dams are designed to work and what we found in our assessment of the operation of dams.
5. Individual homeowner programs. To date, Arcadis engineers have conducted 35 resident consultations on how to prevent overland flooding and have three more scheduled for later this week. We have received and begun processing two completed applications for backflow preventer rebates. To take part in either of these programs, please visit our website at http://www.dcwater.com/bloomingdale.
6. Engineering solutions. Our engineering team continues to research possible medium-term flooding solutions that would be possible to bring online before our Clean Rivers Project is ready in 2025. Their focus has been on two types of projects: one that would detain stormwater to prevent it from reaching the Northeast Boundary Trunk Sewer in Bloomingdale, and one that would divert flow away from that sewer during heavy rain events. We expect to have more to report on this in the next couple of weeks.
7. Website updates. We have updated our website in the past two weeks to include the information I mention above, along with the results of our community survey, and some information from the Insurance Information Institute about inexpensive sewer backup insurance. The Office of the City Administrator is updating and maintaining the website for the Mayor's Task Force on the Prevention of Flooding.
8. Upcoming hearings and meetings. DC Water will attend a special meeting hosted by DDOE and the Bloomingdale ANC Commissioners about the rain barrel and cistern program. It takes place tonight at 7 p.m. at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, 215 Rhode Island Avenue, NW.
   You may be interested in Councilmember Michael Brown's public roundtable on development at the McMillan Sand Filtration site. The roundtable is at 9 a.m. tomorrow in Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
   Next Tuesday, Councilmember Mary Cheh will convene a roundtable on flooding in the Bloomingdale neighborhood in Room 120 of the Wilson Building at 2p.m. next Tuesday. DC Water will provide testimony and answer questions from the committee.
   Finally, next Thursday, September 27 is the next meeting of the Mayor's Task Force, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in Room G-9 of the Wilson Building. Future meetings will be October 31, November 28 and December 18. These meetings are open to the public and allow for public comment.

As usual, our teams will be out in force in your neighborhoods today, checking and cleaning catch basins, providing sandbags if necessary, and preparing to answer calls for assistance. We will provide another update as soon as we can.
Yours,
George S. Hawkins
General Manager