Criticism Mounts Over Maintenance of Water Mains

The city's water authority faced growing criticism yesterday from D.C. officials over its maintenance of the city's water pipes in the wake of an Adams Morgan condominium fire that authorities determined was caused by an electrical problem.

Two D.C. Council members said they will hold public forums focusing on the city's inadequate water mains, and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) vowed to press for scheduled repairs to be speeded up.

Aging water mains created problems for firefighters battling the blaze early Monday. Several hydrants near the burning building let out just a trickle of water because of undersize mains that the water authority has known about for at least seven years. Firefighters had to lay thousands of feet of hose to reach hydrants that had the water pressure needed to get the flames under control.

"Every neighborhood in this city needs to be sure it has enough water to fight fires," said council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who called for a roundtable discussion tomorrow about the city's water mains.

Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), head of the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee, said he will hold a meeting Oct. 31 that will deal with the fire department's water needs. That meeting, which was planned before Monday's fire, will function as a follow-up to tomorrow's discussion at 2 p.m. at the John A. Wilson Building, he said.

"I'm concerned whether firefighters had all the tools they needed," Mendelson said.

Jerry Johnson, general manager of the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority, said that in recent years, the agency has budgeted $15 million annually to replace antiquated water mains as part of a 20-year plan. Replacing all pipes less than 16 inches in diameter at an accelerated schedule would cost an estimated $550 a linear foot, he said. Of the city's 1,300 miles of water mains, 24 miles are four inches in diameter, 173 miles are six inches, 697 miles are eight inches and 181 miles are 12 inches.

"The question is, can the residents of the District afford to spend that level of money over a short period of time?" Johnson said.

But city officials questioned whether the city can afford to wait.

"If there is an obstacle that gets in the way of fighting fires, we'll have to deal with that," Fenty said. "We cannot have a life-and-death situation on a 20-year timetable."

Graham said the water mains will be "fixed much, much faster than 20 years."

"WASA will have to put together the resources, and WASA will have to make it happen," he said.

Graham has long wanted WASA to be under the District's control, contending that the agency, which is controlled by officials from the District and neighboring counties, is not managed to the city's benefit. He pointed to continuing problems with lead in the city's water and inoperable fire hydrants.

Fenty this week compared WASA to the D.C. school board, which he took control of this year. He suggested he might consider having the District control WASA, as well.

"We should probably look at how WASA is governed and whether it breeds the kind of accountability residents deserve," Fenty said yesterday.

WASA said it is the city's prerogative to take over the agency.

"If the District wanted to run the water distribution system as a standard government entity, they have the right to be able to do that," Johnson said. "They did the legislation that created the authority, so they could do legislation to modify it if they wanted to."

The Adams Morgan fire, reported about 1:20 a.m., was triggered by an electrical problem on the apartment building's roof, said Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin. Investigators have not determined what electrical device was responsible, but Rubin emphasized that the fire was accidental.

Firefighters worked for more than six hours to bring the blaze under control. By then, it had destroyed the roof and top floor of the 30-unit condominium building, in the 2600 block of Adams Mill Road NW.

No one was seriously hurt, but dozens were left homeless, and damage to the stately brick building was estimated to be in the millions. Residents either escaped unaided or were evacuated.

Hampering the firefighters, officials said, was the aging subterranean maze of water mains across Adams Morgan. Crews unfurled 4,000 feet of hose to Connecticut Avenue and 3,000 feet of hose to Columbia Road, where larger mains are located, to get more water.

Rubin said he has asked WASA, which controls the city's fire hydrants, to color-code the hydrants so firefighters will immediately know each hydrant's water capacity. WASA has not responded to his proposal, he said.

Rubin said the system WASA now has in place to inform firefighters about water pressure is not effective. Each battalion chief has a map of the city showing the water mains, including the size of each. Rubin said the maps are confusing and unhelpful in an emergency.

"They are antiquated and inappropriate," Rubin said. "We should not have to look at a map when we arrive at a burning building."