17 APRIL 2025 WorldWide Drilling Resource® www.starironworks.com 257 Caroline Street Punxsutawney, PA 15767 800-927-0560 • 814-427-2555 Fax: 814-427-5164 Serving the Water Well Industry Project to Study Options for Updating Wastewater Line Adapted from Information by DC Water It’s not every day you see a helicopter with a 14-ton drill rig dangling from it. This incredible sight could be seen by those in the Great Falls area of Washington, D.C. earlier this year, as DC Water prepared to drill for core samples to evaluate options for rehabilitating a sewer line across the Potomac River. The work will be focussed on the area below the Washington Aqueduct Dam in Great Falls, where the Potomac Interceptor, a 54mile-long sewer line, crosses the river. The segment in question is about 3000 feet long and 78 inches in diameter running beneath the river between Virginia and Maryland, which is nearing the end of its useful life. Completed more than 60 years ago, the Potomac Interceptor is a key infrastructure asset carrying 60 million gallons of wastewater per day from areas near Dulles Airport to DC Water’s advanced wastewater treatment plant. The project is part of a ten-year, $7.7 billion Capital Improvement Plan to upgrade and maintain the District’s aging water distribution and sanitary sewer system. The core samples will provide a better understanding of the rock formation and identify fractures in the rock which could impact the overall design. The sewer rehab project remains in the early planning stage, but could include rehabilitating the existing pipe and adding a second line alongside it for redundancy. Expert geologists, engineers, and their team are leading the operation. The drill rig is specially designed with a hollow rod and diamond tip to cut through the rock and remove a core sample. Some of the rock in this area was formed more than a billion years ago and varies in composition and type, including metagreywacke, quartz-schist, and biotite-schist. This geological investigation will play a critical role in the long-term reliability of the Potomac Interceptor, which is essential in maintaining the region’s wastewater infrastructure. A Sikorsky S-64E helicopter, similar to the ones used to fight wildfires, transported the drill rig to the jobsite. WTR
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