D.C. environmental officials to start testing Potomac and Anacostia rivers for E. coli daily

The District’s Department of Energy and Environment said Friday that it will start testing the Anacostia and Potomac rivers daily for E. coli this week.

City environmental officials said that starting Monday, E. coli testing will be conducted daily at three sites on the Potomac River, two sites on the Anacostia River and one site in the Washington Channel, which runs between the Southwest Waterfront and East Potomac Park.

City officials are working with the federal Environmental Protection Agency to process the water tests faster. They expect to have results for each day released within 48 hours of the water sample being taken and subsequently processed.

“The EPA has some laboratory capability that they’re providing as part of this process, and the Department of Energy and Environment is going to handle a lot of the sampling on the front end. It’s really a joint effort. We’re absorbing our costs and they’re absorbing their costs,” Clint Osborn, director of the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, told WTOP-FM.

DC Water has been testing the waters since January, when the Potomac Interceptor sewage pipeline suffered a collapse in a 6-foot-wide section near Clara Barton Parkway. The release of wastewater spiked the levels of E. coli in the Potomac River.

E. coli levels can also be heightened by other factors, including rain and snowmelt runoff carrying bacteria from animal waste. The limit of E. coli in the water considered safe for recreational contact used by the EPA and the District, city environmental officials said, is 410 most probable number of bacteria per 100 milliliters of water.

Testing recently has found that the E. coli levels in the Potomac River are dropping, and DC Health said this week that the ban on public contact with the river will be lifted on Monday.

E. coli are bacteria usually found in the intestines of mammals. Virulent forms of E. coli can cause gastrointestinal problems with symptoms such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and fever.

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• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.