South Hill Community Facilities Issues

Update: December 8, 2025 at 6:55 p.m.

Dear Terp,

We are writing to residents of the South Hill community who’ve been impacted by recent hot water issues. We are pleased to share that as of Monday, December 8, hot water service has been restored to the community. Senior leaders from Facilities Management, Residential Facilities, and Resident Life continue to work together with urgency regarding permanent repairs to help prevent future disruptions 

Below, you’ll find updates on the latest developments and how you can help us stay informed about the hot water service in your specific unit. We’ve also included campus resources, including 24-hour access to our staff, should you need additional support.

Issue Summary/ Work Update

The recent issues and utility outages were the result of several overlapping issues, which included emergency repairs to a broken underground water main valve, two burst underground heating hot water lines and additional complications at the Satellite Central Utility Building (SCUB), which supplies heat and hot water to your community.

Teams across Residential Facilities and Facilities Management continue to work closely with contractors who are making repairs and investigating the root cause of these disruptions to help prevent future issues. They are monitoring progress in real time and making adjustments and additional repairs as needed until the issue is fully resolved. 

Here are the actions taken so far:

• Several initial intermediate actions were taken to attempt to resolve the issue but were unsuccessful. On Saturday, the Facilities Management team initiated an emergency procurement to secure temporary industrial water-heating equipment. This equipment is intended to stabilize hot water temperature and pressure while staff complete repairs in the SCUB.
• The temporary equipment was successfully installed at the SCUB today, around 11:30 a.m. and is now fully supplying hot water to the residence halls in the South Hill Community.

When An Emergency Occurs & How You Can Help

When utility or emergency outages occur, they’re often complex and unexpected issues and challenges can arise, making it difficult to diagnose the issue which delays repairs. Even so, our teams understand the impact these situations have on residents and are working around the clock to investigate, respond, and restore full service.

As we continue repairs, we need your help to report any issues you notice; don’t assume someone else has. Timely, detailed reports help our teams respond faster and address problems more effectively. Report your real-time water temperature conditions in sinks and showers using this South Hill Student Hot Water Reporting Form.

Routinely, report any other facilities issues immediately through Facilities Service Central or by calling the 24-hour Residential Facilities Service Center at 301-314-9675. 

Stay Informed

Continue to check your university email for Residential Facilities updates. We’ll share information with as much advance notice as we can to minimize disruptions and to help you plan ahead. Additionally, you can find all the most recent notifications on the Residential Facilities website. 

Continued Support & Resources

We know these intermittent hot water outages and other unexpected campus infrastructure issues have been disruptive and inconvenient to you and your fellow residents. Thank you for your patience as we work to keep your living environment comfortable and reliable. 

Please know that our top priority right now is implementing a permanent and reliable hot water service solution to the residence halls. We have received inquiries regarding housing fee credits, and we will review them once repairs are complete. Typically, refunds or housing fee adjustments aren’t provided for emergency utility or service disruptions.

Our teams are always here to support you. If you have questions, please reach out to your Resident Director by calling 301-226-4830, or for urgent matters after-hours, you can reach on-call Resident Life staff by contacting your 24-hour residence hall service desk.

Sincerely,

Dennis Passarella-George
Director, Department of Resident Life

Colleen Wright-Riva
Interim Director, Department of Residential Facilities &
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs