Georgetown University was fined over $1,000 in early December for failing to provide adequate hot water in Copley Hall after intermittent hot water issues in November.

The university first notified Copley residents on Nov. 21 and later on Nov. 26 of ongoing issues with hot water throughout Copley Hall, which forced students to take cold showers and shower in other buildings. The Washington, D.C. Department of Buildings fined Georgetown $1,249 on Dec. 8 for failing to reach minimum hot water temperatures on Copley’s fourth floor. 

Devika Mathur (SFS ’29), a resident of the floor, said the hot water never returned after the initial notification.

“After that, we just never really got hot water,” Mathur told The Hoya. “So I think a week and a half before Thanksgiving break, all of Copley was getting cold water, and the warmest it was getting was not warm.”

“A lot of Copley didn’t have hot water for a good three or four weeks,” Mathur added.

The university received the complaint from the city and is planning to follow up with the department. 

A university spokesperson said the issues have been resolved and steps are being taken to fix the issue permanently. 

“There were intermittent hot water issues in Copley Hall in November 2025 affecting both specific rooms and building-wide systems,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “Following the initial resolution of the building-wide issues, some remaining issues were reported and resolved. The university is currently completing a project to provide a long-term solution to the issue; equipment installation is complete and commissioning of the new system is underway.”

Ameera Osman (SFS ’29), another Copley Hall resident, said difficulties with the water temperature persist. 

“Obviously it’s super cold right now, so taking cold showers right now is kind of insane and uncomfortable,” Osman told The Hoya. “In my experience, I live on the second floor, and we do get hot water, but it runs out super quick, after two minutes.”

Mathur said the outage made it difficult for her to engage in her usual self-care routines or stay in the shower any longer than absolutely necessary. 

“During the cold water time, the main precaution that we were taking was just showers, and so we would go in and out pretty quickly,” Mathur said. “We tried to — I think the fifth floor had hot water for a pretty long time, they got their hot water back the quickest, so some of us went to go take a shower on the fifth floor.”

The Office of Planning and Facilities Management sent notifications to students in Copley Hall throughout the month of November saying the water supply would be temporarily shut off due to maintenance in the building. The university encouraged students to utilize the showers in Yates Field House or restrooms in nearby buildings. 

Mathur said facilities attempted to remedy the problem multiple times, but it persisted until winter break.

“They came and tried to fix it two or three times — we had a person from facilities come into our room and toggle with the showerhead, but it didn’t really work,” Mathur said. “After winter break, it started to come back. Thankfully, my room had decently hot water, but I know some people who didn’t have hot water, it only came back a week after winter break.”

Osman said the severity of the issue has varied widely among residents in Copley Hall.

“For me, it’s been going on for a couple of weeks,” Osman said. “The thing is that it’s been difficult to tell when exactly it started, because it’s different for everyone and every floor,” 

“The hot water also definitely has a limit,” Osman added. “It doesn’t get past a certain temperature.”

Sofie Lucas (CAS ’29), another Copley resident, said she continued to use the showers despite the cold water, but she was concerned about falling ill due to the cold temperatures both in the showers and outside. 

“I shower at night, and so that definitely annoyed me because then all of the hot water was definitely gone by the time I took a shower,” Lucas told The Hoya. “I was a little bit worried about getting sick, actually, because it was cold outside, and then, when you take a cold shower, that’s the easiest way to not be warm and to catch a chill, so I was a little bit worried about that.”

Mathur said some residents continued to shower in Copley Hall, despite the cold water.

“They told us to go to Yates or another dorm building, but those are all super far to just take a shower, so we would just rough it out, especially because at this point it was the fall, and none of us wanted to walk back from New South to Copley with wet hair in the cold,” Mathur said. 

Lucas said she was frustrated by the hot water shortage.

“I showered faster than I normally do,” Lucas said. “I was definitely in and out. It was frustrating also with washing dishes — I couldn’t really wash dishes. It didn’t greatly impact my daily routine, but it annoys me.”