Many people spotted vibrantly green water flowing along the Broad Branch section of Rock Creek earlier Sunday. And while the photos populating Twitter may have made it seem as if the water had turned into some kind of toxic sludge, D.C. Water said it was nothing to worry about.
Meanwhile in the Creek https://t.co/e0AIY6Mo3p pic.twitter.com/aV203WIRc5
— PoPville (@PoPville) September 12, 2021
After a number of concerned calls to D.C. Fire and EMS, the water utility used Twitter to say the dyed-green water was related to a floodwater test. D.C. Water’s post said “the dye will dissipate and is harmless,” and it had used the dye to trace the water’s flow in the storm sewer system.
It was our dye test. Our Sewer Operations team is following up on flooding in the 3900 block of Military Road during a recent storm, investigating the link between a drain in the neighborhood and the storm sewer infrastructure. The dye will dissipate and is harmless.
— DC Water (@dcwater) September 12, 2021
D.C. Water noted its sewer operations team was working to see how the system worked after recent flooding in the 3900 block of Military Road in Northwest D.C. WTOP’s news partner NBC Washington confirmed the test with John Lisle, D.C. Water’s Vice President of Communications.