Plumbers in Beltsville, MD

Along old US 1

Beltsville grew around a rail stop and the old Baltimore-Washington Turnpike, now US 1 (Baltimore Avenue), and expanded after World War II. It sits near the Montgomery County line, about 11 miles from downtown Washington in a straight line, with Powder Mill Road, Ammendale Road and Cherry Hill Road as the local routes, Vansville and neighboring Calverton nearby, and the USDA's Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center taking up much of the open land. There is no town government: Prince George's County issues building permits and WSSC Water handles plumbing.

Homes from the 1960s and 1970s

The median Beltsville home dates to about 1976. At that age, many houses are on their third or fourth water heater, and original copper can develop pinhole leaks while early plastic drain fittings and old shutoff valves wear out. Where a house has a basement, sump pumps and floor drains get tested by every heavy rain. If a basement drain gurgles when the washer empties, the main line may be partly blocked.

Water and sewer

WSSC Water supplies water and sewer service across Prince George's County, including Beltsville. Its water is drawn from the Potomac River and from the Patuxent River reservoirs, Triadelphia and T. Howard Duckett, and is disinfected with chlorine. WSSC adds a corrosion inhibitor that coats pipes, including those on customer property. Report a main break or sewer overflow to the WSSC Emergency Services Center at 301-206-4002.

WSSC is responsible for the part of the water service line connected to the main; the owner is responsible from the property line into the house. A wet spot in the yard on your side of that line is a plumbing repair. WSSC's service line map at wsscwater.com/LCR-map shows the recorded material for your address, and its "What's Your Pipe Type?" program notes some customer-side galvanized lines need replacing.

Gas service

Washington Gas maintains gas service lines in Beltsville, including the Cherry Hill Road area. BGE serves other parts of the county, so addresses on the northern edge toward Laurel should check their bill. If you smell gas, leave the house at once, then call 911 and Washington Gas at 844-WASHGAS (844-927-4427), option 1, from a safe spot.

WSSC does not allow homeowners to do gasfitting. Replacing a gas water heater, running a new line to a range or dryer, or moving a gas appliance needs a plumber or gasfitter holding a WSSC license and a WSSC permit.

Permits and backflow

WSSC Water is the permit and inspection agency for plumbing and gasfitting in Prince George's County, with applications through WSSC ePermitting (Permit Services 301-206-4003). Prince George's County DPIE handles building, electrical and mechanical permits. If WSSC has a testable backflow assembly on record for your property, it must be tested every year by a WSSC-certified cross-connection technician, and keeping it maintained is the owner's job.

Calling from Beltsville

Inside Washington, DC Water and the DC Department of Buildings would handle the same work. Here it runs through WSSC. Give your street and a short description of the problem, and you will be connected with an independent plumber who sets the price and timing with you.