This story was updated at 1:15 p.m. Aug. 29.

Diluted sewage overflows due to Hurricane Irene-related power loss and heavy rains have been stopped at three wastewater-treatment plants in Prince George’s County.

Power has been restored to the Western Branch Wastewater Treatment Plant in Upper Marlboro, as well as the Broad Creek Wastewater Pumping Station in Fort Washington and Piscataway Wastewater Treatment Plant in Accokeek, according to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.

Lyn Riggins, a WSSC spokeswoman, said nearby residents’ drinking water is safe to drink and was not affected by the overflow of diluted sewage. The Maryland Department of the Environment and the Prince George’s County Health Department were notified of the overflows.

The Western Branch Wastewater Treatment Plant overflowed an estimated 4.3 million gallons of diluted sewage when the plant lost power six times between Saturday and Sunday, Riggins said.

She said Pepco was able to restore power to the plant after 5:45 p.m. Sunday, and the facility has been fully operational since then.

“Without power, the plant can’t function as it normally should,” Riggins said. “Many people don’t realize that it takes a tremendous amount of power to run the pumps and all of the equipment to treat the water. [The hurricane] was a huge challenge for us.”

She said the plant is designed to treat about 30 million gallons of wastewater per day, and can handle peak flows of about 60 million gallons of wastewater per day.

“At one point during the height of the storm, I believe we were experiencing flow as high as 90 million gallons,” she said. “It’s just blowing past the charts, past the absolute maximum capacity.”

The Broad Creek Wastewater Pumping Station lost power around 10 p.m. Saturday and was overflowing as a result of excessive rain. Power was restored and overflow was stopped Sunday.

The Accokeek plant also lost power Saturday night as a result of the hurricane, but power was fully restored around 2 a.m. Sunday, and overflow was stopped Sunday.

The amount of diluted sewage overflowed at both the Fort Washington and Accokeek plants were not available by Monday morning.

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