‘People aren’t ever going to stop flushing their toilets’: Sewer line repairs in Germantown

Helitra.com

3 hours ago

A temporary bypass will begin pumping wastewater Friday, around the site of the collapse of a 30-inch sewer main in Germantown, Maryland.

The pipe, which runs beneath a sidewalk on Liberty Mill Road, across the street from Germantown Elementary School, was reported collapsed on March 12, 2026.
(WTOP/Neal Augenstein)

Washington Gas relocated a gas main near the collapsed sewer pipe, and Verizon relocated two utility poles affected by the collapse.
(WTOP/Neal Augenstein)

Approximately 1,000 feet of black 18-inch diameter bypass piping has been brought in, to enable WSSC Water to pump wastewater out of the intact sewer main around the collapsed pipe, which will help crews replace the broken pipe.
(WTOP/Neal Augenstein)

A temporary bypass will begin pumping wastewater Friday, around the site of the collapse of a 30-inch sewer main in Germantown, Maryland.

The pipe, which runs beneath a sidewalk on Liberty Mill Road, across the street from Germantown Elementary School, was reported collapsed Thursday morning. The school was closed Thursday, and all Montgomery County Public Schools were already scheduled to be closed Friday.

By Friday morning, Washington Gas relocated a gas main near the collapsed sewer pipe, and Verizon relocated two utility poles affected by the collapse.

Lyn Riggins, spokesperson with WSSC Water, which serves almost 2 million customers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, says drinking water has not been affected and no wastewater has spilled nearby.

“The top of the pipe gave way, so the sides and bottom of the pipe are still there, so the wastewater, at this moment, is still flowing through that,” Riggins said. “It hasn’t escaped it.”

Approximately 1,000 feet of black 18-inch diameter bypass piping has been brought in, to enable WSSC Water to pump wastewater out of the intact sewer main around the collapsed pipe, which will help crews replace the broken pipe.

“In order to make the repairs to this collapsed pipe, we have to bring that temporary sewer system, if you will, above ground, so we can have somewhere for the flow to go,” Riggins said. “People aren’t ever going to stop flushing their toilets.”

Once the bypass system is pumping, slated for later Friday, “We’ll be able to remove that broken section of pipe that runs right under we’re standing, and put a new section of pipe back in,” said Riggins.

One block of Liberty Mill Road remains closed between Dawson Farm and Pepper Court.

As for when things will be back to normal, Riggins said, “It’s a number of days, not weeks, not months. Once we get the old pipe out and new pipe in we’ll have a better timeline of how many days this will take.”

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