A massive water main break sent 3 million gallons of water gushing into a Bowie, Maryland, street Friday morning.
The broken 24-inch main, reported at 5:30 a.m., bubbled up and flooded Mitchellville Road. Footage of the geyser was captured on camera by Chopper4.
About 50 residents were without water for several hours before Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) crews identified and fixed a broken valve Friday afternoon, Darcy Spencer reported.
WSSC officials said they lost an estimated 3 million gallons of water. They said they have had 313 broken water mains so far in January, which is not abnormal.
It took their crews several hours to turn off the water main's valves because of the recent snowfall. Last weekend's blizzard buried Bowie under nearly 2 feet of snow.
Residents of the Mitchell Road area said they noticed their water was slightly discolored. WSSC advised residents to not wash their clothes.
A portion of the road was closed while crews repaired the break.
