Residents of Lake Anne in Reston are once again enduring a heat dome with limited relief after a crucial component of their cooling system failed.
A temporary rental pump installed in late June after residents reported experiencing temperatures of 85 degrees or higher during a heat wave has failed, Reston RELAC President Mark Waddell told customers in an email on Monday (July 28).
“This pump pulls in lake water for a chiller and without this pump we can only run one chiller,” Waddell said.
RELAC is a geothermal system that dates back to the 1960s, when the residences around Lake Anne were first constructed. It uses water from the lake to cool clean water that’s then delivered to individual homes, providing air-conditioning.
According to previous explanations from Waddell, when only one chiller is available, it isn’t able to produce enough water to fully cool homes when temperatures exceed 90 degrees — as has been the case for the D.C. area since Friday (July 25), per National Weather Service data.
“Dave [McAfee] has been on the phone with the rental company to get a replacement pump,” Waddell said in his message to customers. “He has explained that 600 people are not getting sufficient A/C and that this is an emergency.”
David McAfee is an HVAC technician for Innovative Mechanical Systems, a Maryland-based contractor that has been managing RELAC this summer and is expected to eventually take ownership of the utility.
After confirming to FFXnow this morning (Wednesday) that the team is working on getting a replacement pump, Waddell informed residents in an update shared around 2:20 p.m. that the replacement had arrived at 7 a.m. However, workers determined after “several hours of installation” that the new equipment was also “faulty.”
“The rental company sent out their technician and they are now looking for a replacement for the replacement,” he wrote. “Doubtful any replacement pump will be available today. Dave is leaning on them hard.”
One resident of the Vantage Hill condominiums told FFXnow that their AC has been out since Sunday (July 27), and now, there’s “no clear end” to the cooling issues in sight.
A Heat Advisory is currently in effect for the D.C. region, with the heat index that measures both temperatures and humidity climbing as high as 105 to 109. According to the NWS forecast, tomorrow (Thursday) is expected to see a high temperature of 93 degrees, but evening showers will bring the rest of the week down into the 70s and 80s.
Required for residential clusters in the Lake Anne area under Reston Association’s deed unless they obtain a medical exception for an individual AC unit, RELAC serves 343 townhomes, 258 condominiums and 25 commercial units, according to RA.
RELAC has encountered challenges in recent years. The utility surprised customers with an announcement in December 2023 that it would cease operations, leading a group of residents led by Simon McKeown to form a new nonprofit entity to take over last year.
However, McKeown’s death last December created new uncertainty about the utility’s future. Innovative Mechanical Systems offered to operate the system this summer and ultimately take ownership, a process that requires approval by the State Corporation Commission (SCC), which regulates water companies and other public utilities.
Waddell says he’s still working to transfer ownership of RELAC to McAfee but should be able to share an update “soon.”
