Rockville water restrictions extended

Rockville crews pulled a broken 24-inch water main from the ground overnight, but the city expects mandatory water restrictions will last through noon Saturday.

“They’ll do the repairs, and then they’ll need to refill the pipe and then do some testing to make sure the water can be used,” said Marylou Berg, a city spokeswoman.

The city has ordered its water customers to stop outside water use, and to conserve at taps indoors after a pipe in Potomac broke Wednesday afternoon.

Most Rockville residents get their water from the city’s system. After the pipe broke, city water tanks began to drop and workers cranked open connections to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s system.

The city’s water pipes are now getting filled by supplies from the WSSC, which recently concluded its own broken-pipe and water-restriction drama.

Rockville residents who receive their water bill from the WSSC are not covered by the mandatory limits the city now has in place for its own customers.

-- Michael Laris