March 22, 2020

DC Water today announced that disconnected residents will have their service restored upon request, assuring that every residential customer in the city has access to clean water.

The announcement from Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David L. Gadis comes days after DC Water offered every residential customer flexible payment terms for the duration of the health emergency and halted disconnections for non-payment.

“We intend to take every possible action to help District residents get through this difficult time,” Mr. Gadis said. “The city has never confronted anything like COVID-19 before and I am fully committed to doing our part to help everyone have abundant access to clean water.”

DC Water will begin restoring service tomorrow morning upon request. Customers whose water was shut off should email restore@dcwater.com or can call DC Water at 202-354-3750 starting Monday at 8 am. Customers requesting restored service can leave a message and DC Water will return their call.

Customers must ensure that all water fixtures are turned off before water service is restored.
For the safety of employees, we ask that you do not approach DC Water crews as they perform this critical work.

Last week, DC Water suspended all planned water shutoffs for non-critical activities such as plumber or developer connections to the water system and for work associated with capital improvement projects. So far, at least 150 customers have contacted DC Water to discuss payment options. Crews will only perform water shutoffs when necessary to perform emergency repairs.

DC Water elected to suspend service disconnections for non-payment earlier this month to help ensure customers have access to clean water during the current public health crisis. Health officials say washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds helps prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

For the protection of customers and employees, DC Water has also suspended water and sewer service calls that require employees to enter customers’ homes, except for emergencies. Non-emergency work that is suspended includes scheduled appointments to investigate internal leaks, meter replacements or new meter sets. In addition, meter readers are not entering internal properties to read water meters.