On Friday night, DC Water announced a boil water advisory for a sizable portion of Northwest D.C. due to a water main break.

According to the District agency, the water in this specific section of the system is of unknown quality, thus consumers in the affected area are advised to boil any water that they may consume as a precaution. Never drink water that hasn’t been boiled beforehand.

Free bottled water is being given out by the organization on Friday night until 11:30 p.m. at the following locations:

• The Raymond A. Duford Athletic Center at 4400 John McCormack Road NE is home to Catholic University of America.

• At 4200 Connecticut Ave NW and 3000 Block Van Ness Street NW and International Drive/Connecticut Ave NE, University of the District of Columbia Building 44 is located.

The DC Water boil advisory is included below:

• All drinks and ice should be disposed of after Friday, January 19, 2024, at 11 a.m.
• Before boiling, run cold water until it’s clear (if it’s colored).
• If there are known sources of lead, run cold water for two minutes before boiling.
• After one minute of vigorous boiling, let the water cool.
• Cooled water should be kept in a sterile, covered container.

Use bottled water or cooled, boiling water for:

• Consuming alcohol
• Using a tooth brush
• preparing and cooking food
• Cleaning produce and fruits
• Making baby formula
• preparing ice
• Providing water to animals

Never use bottled or boiling water in place of a home filter.

Customers in the Northwest who were having low or no water pressure contacted DC Water, the company said. “The system was evaluated and low pressure was confirmed at multiple locations within the impacted area,” the organization stated.

It stated that workers are still attempting to determine what went wrong and raise the pressure.

The main issue is that “backpressure, backsiphonage, or a net movement of water from outside the pipe to the inside through cracks, breaks, or joints in the distribution system that are common in all water systems” can result from a systemic loss of pressure, according to DC Water.

That implies that “fecal contamination or other disease-causing organisms could enter the distribution system,” disgusting as that may sound.

According to DC Water, “symptoms like diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, and other symptoms can be caused by bacteria and other disease-causing contamination like viruses and parasites.” They might present a particular health danger to young children, the elderly, those with highly weakened immune systems, and babies.

If you have symptoms, the agency advised you to consult a doctor.

As DC Water does more research, tests will be conducted on the water.

When testing on two consecutive days reveal no bacteria are present and all customers can resume normal water consumption, which we believe will be on Sunday, January 21 at the latest, DC Water indicated that the advisory will be lifted.