McMillan Sand Filtration Site
Below grade, there are twenty catacomb-like cells, each an acre in extent, where sand was used to filter water from the Potomac River by way of the Washington Aqueduct.Public access to the site has been restricted since World War II, when the Army erected a fence to guard against sabotage of the city's water supply.Its innovative system of water purification, which relied on sand rather than chemicals, led to the elimination of typhoid epidemics and the reduction of many other communicable diseases in the city.[3] A legacy of the City Beautiful Movement and an integral part of the McMillan Plan to modernize Washington, the complex is an engineering wonder that served its original purpose until 1986."[citation needed] The site's future became uncertain, though, in 1986 when the Corps of Engineers declared the property surplus and asked the General Services Administration to dispose of it.[citation needed] In 2016, courts sided with community activists and rejected the DC Zoning Commission's approval of a $720 million project to transform the site into retail, office and residential space.[13] On June 15, 2024 D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser cut the ribbon at the Reservoir Park Recreation Center at the former McMillan Sand Filtration site.
water treatmentWashington, D.C.North Capitol StreetPotomac RiverWashington Aqueductslow sand filterrapid sand filterArmy Corps of EngineersWorld War IINational Register of Historic PlacesFrederick Law Olmsted Jr.public healthtyphoidcommunicable diseasesCity Beautiful MovementMcMillan PlanWorld War IGirl Scoutsmanhole coversCorps of EngineersNational Capital Planning CommissionGeneral Services AdministrationDistrict of Columbia governmentdevelopmentAnacostia riverfrontNationals ParkDC WaterBloomingdaleCity CouncilD.C. Court of AppealsWashington Business JournalMuriel BowserMcMillan ReservoirWayback Machine