Two more L.A. water mains burst overnight, bringing more questions

Two more water mains broke overnight in the San Fernando Valley, the latest in a rash of problems hitting L.A.'s water system. 

The first break occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Corbin Avenue in Warner Center, sending water into the street. The second break occurred around 4:30 a.m. on Burbank Boulevard in Winnetka. 

Both incidents are under investigation.

Underground water pipes in Los Angeles have suffered significantly more "major blowouts" in the last three months, officials confirmed Tuesday after analyzing dozens of ruptures, some of which flooded streets, damaged vehicles and buildings and, in once case, created a sinkhole so big that it almost swallowed a firetruck.

And the city's engineers don't know why.

It could be fluctuating temperatures. It could be a statistical anomaly. It could be something else.

"It's strange," said William Robertson, general manager of the Bureau of Street Services, which repaves the ruined roads after the water recedes. "The thing that is puzzling is they are so spread out . . . all over the city. You can't link them to anything."

What Department of Water and Power officials can say with certainty is they want more money to fix the problem and plan to ask for a water rate hike. The blowouts underscore the fact that the city's aging water system, which has 7,200 miles of pipe and moves 600 million gallons of water a day, needs an upgrade, officials said.

"This all requires a lot of money," said Jim McDaniel, head of the city's water system.

But some City Council members, who would have to approve any rate increase, did not appear convinced.

"They have to make a case for that," said Councilwoman Jan Perry. She added that she is concerned about the rise in blowouts. "We have to get to the cause," she said. "People can get hurt. Property can be lost."

Los Angeles' water system was put in place by William Mulholland, who figured out how to tap water from the Eastern Sierra and the Owens Valley and designed an aqueduct system that let it flow to Los Angeles on the force of gravity alone.

The influx allowed semi-arid Los Angeles to boom -- and subdivisions marched outward in the 1920s and the years just after World War II.

The system remains a marvel to many engineers and still sends water over the Santa Monica Mountains from Sylmar to San Pedro using gravity. But parts of it are now almost 100 years old, and many of the pipes are wearing out. At the same time, new water quality standards are requiring the DWP to cover many reservoirs at great expense.

The age of the pipes has long been a concern to engineers and officials at the DWP, but most Angelenos were unaware of the urgency until earlier this month.

On Sept. 5, a 95-year-old trunk line ruptured under Coldwater Canyon Avenue, sending a torrent of mud and water shooting 10 feet into the air and into the streets of Studio City.

Less than 72 hours later, a broken main created a sinkhole not far away in Valley Village -- and nearly consumed a firetruck that responded. Days later, another broken main flooded Melrose Avenue near Fairfax High School.

And on Tuesday, there was another on Exposition Boulevard, which caused officials to close the thoroughfare between Crenshaw and Degnan boulevards and cut off water to several businesses.

-- Jessica Garrison

Photo: Department of Water and Power workers drain a sinkhole on Burbank Boulevard east of De Soto Avenue in Woodland Hills early this morning. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Joe S.]

DUH, THE PIPES ARE OLD!

[Horatio Alger]

There is plenty of money to fix this problem. But, the American people prefer to waste trillions of dollars on wars around the globe-Pipelinistan, Iraq, Kyrgistan, Colombia, with its dozens & dozens of military outposts, than spend money to repair a collapsing (in this case, literally) infrastructure and health care for all.

The height of stupidity. Let's continue to support the oilocracy & its wars.

[Pancho]

not to sound alarmist or anything, but has anyone looked into the possibility that the San Fernando Valley is getting a bulge like Palmdale? That there are seismic movements ready to burst?

[jojo]

This just in! Mysterious red coating, fragile and flaking, found inside and outside pipes in 100 year old system! L.A. City Engineers baffled!

[el pez]

Just wondering- could this have anything to do with the mandated decrease in water usage with enforced lawn/garden watering on Mondays and Thursdays due to the current drought? Considering the millions of private and public acres affected by the plan (guessing), it must be a huge amount of water is remaining in the pipes that was let out prior to the plan which went into affect just over three months ago. That excess water may be increasing water pressure in the system and leading to the ruptures of aging pipes.

[cv]

The federal government spends money that it doesn't have, LA can only spend money that it takes in. Can you see the difference?

[Lisa De Reyes]

Age of the pipes is one possible factor. Has anyone considered shifting ground and our geologically active location?

[Tuna Slayer]

Ok, How about this. DWP's labor contract is comming up, they also want a rate hike... Remember last time this happened and all the blackouts??

[Ann Rosenthal]

Can somebody please ask if the pipes bursting could be the result of the water rationing? We are all ordered to water our lawns only on Mondays and Thursdays, from 12-9 or 4-12, instead of randomly throughout the week. Perhaps this increased demand/pressure at certain times is too much for the old pipes?

[Kira]

Dwp should incure the costs of these repairs and not their customers. Our water bills are high enough not to mention we are sverely restriced in our useage and told to rat our our neighbors who may have a greener lawn than we do for some silly fish in the river deltas up north. Old and aging pipelines should be a cost that DWP budgets for each year without raising rates of their customers.

[Nikki]

The pipes are old.
Really, the city should have reconstructed our piping systems eons ago.

[Robert Tolchin]

"The first break occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Corbin Avenue in Warner Center, sending water into the street. The second break occurred around 4:30 a.m. on Burbank Boulevard in Winnetka. "

Perhaps you meant Burbank Bl. in Warner Center and Corbin Ave. in Winnetka? Otherwise you have rearranged the geography of the Valley. And what are the cross streets so we can avoid the area being dug up? Sloppy reporting, guys.

[wowlfie]

It's the San Andreas Plate (the sleeping giant) and it's tributaries that are responsible for the pipes breaking. Can you spell 'Uh oh'.

Look for the big one again in San Francisco around 8.5 within next 60 days.......

[Homer Simpson]

Why is this baffling to anyone?

The City has mandated water restrictions. That means people are using less water under threat of penalty.

If DWP has not adjusted accordingly, this will lead to increased pressure in the distribution system and the corresponding failures we are seeing.

[hoyt adams]

when the trunk line broke it rattled all the smaller line in all directions which still had water weight and pressure when the pipes start leaking the water creeks along the pipe and takes earth with it when the pipes get enough movement they blow .after fixing the big trunk line when they recharged it they probably did the damage ,air pockets and millions of pounds of water due damage.and could be planed to induce a rate hike.if u don't think they would due that then have a glass of kool aid \~/

[BottomFisher]

Lets have a contest to see who guesses the actual cause of all the pipe breaks. So far we have water conservation, bulging quake land, too old pipes need replaced, and strange red stuff. To find the next breaking points, everybody could turn their water on at the same established time for 30 seconds.....then all turn off at same time. Pop goes the weak points. Hire extra unemployed to be ready to help with the fixes.

[Unknown]

Could we have a failure caused by sabotage? Just wondering

[Stephen]

I understand that this is a huge concern for all Los Angelenos especially during a time of water scarcity. However, I would like to remind everyone that DWP was here for us during the energy crisis. Did they shut off the power to the city and residents like So Cal Edison? No. Did they blast up our energy prices like the apocalypse was at our door? No. Before we get ready to bare arms and crucify DWP, let's let them do the proper due diligence and figure out how to get our near century's old system in order.

[John]

Has anyone considered that the greater LA area has this many pipe breaks normally, and that the news has suddenly decided to start reporting them because it's a sensationalist issue?

[Sirene]

I'm sure that DWP's justification for their current rates includes infrastructure maintenance and upgrades. They should bear the costs for this.

[LN]

No one has suggested something that I started wondering after the 4th break--is there some movement going on underground that we can't neccessarily feel but is strong enough to burst these pipes? One of the things I noticed the evening before the Northridge Quake was a drop in my water pressure here in Culver City. Coincidence? It sure makes me wonder...

[Niall]

All you geniuses trying to pin this on water rationing are probably just irritated at being told to conserve water and are trying to seize on an opportunity to bash DWP. There are a ton of things that could have caused this, and unless you're an engineer you really have no basis for making pronouncements like that.

Did you consider that many people could have installed timers this summer and shifted their watering from the afternoon to the evening hours, thus offsetting the decrease in usage from conservation? And many responsible homeowners decrease their watering during the rainy months in the winter, yet we don't see a rash of water main breaks every January.

That, and the increase in pressure from rationing is probably insingificant as a percentage of the normal pressure in the pipes, which are always designed to withstand pressures that are higher than the expected maximum.

[JJ Popowich]

The problem is a combination of things. First and foremost the City has for too long neglected the pipe system like it has most of our infrastructure.

Metal in contact with water rusts. Rust weakens the metal. Eventually it’s gonna break.

Three or four years ago at a Mayor's Budget Day I had a conversation/argument with a DWP representative who told me the rate increases were to support re-piping projects. I told him flat out at the time...tell me where...I don't see any of that happening. He took great offense to that and promised to call me to attend a Winnetka NC meeting...he never did.

Well, guess what I was right. They got the rate increases and we DIDN'T get our pipe replacements. Now we're going to suffer increasingly. Bottom line...stop granting double digit pay increases to DWP staff, stop increasing our rates like we have an infinite supply of income to give you, and start doing what you're supposed to be doing...fixing the system.

[boil]

imagine how bad it's going to be after the big one, broken water mains, gas lines, ruptured sewer lines spewing all over..... but lets get the mayor tony to do another photo op......

[mschliebs]

What's so hard to figure out? The pipes are a hundred years old. They are wore out. End of mystery.

[Dan]

People who ares aying that reduced use results in higher pressure do not know much about hydrology or engineering. The delivery pipes are always full. Less out merely means less in from the sources.

[Make No Mistake]

In the wake of the collapse of the early retirement deal, these are overpaid DWP employees making it a point to remind everyone how "valuable" they are! It's too much of a coincidence with the timing. Not like this sort of thing couldn't happen:

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-08-04/news/mn-1267_1_transmission-line

http://www.scmagazineuk.com/Los-Angeles-city-employees-charged-with-hacking-traffic-lights-over-labor-dispute/article/106271/

[DG]

The pipe burst problems might be due to the water rationing, i.e. when you restrict watering from 7days to only 2 days the water demand increases over a shorter time frame. Which puts added stress on the entire infrastructure.

[Greg]

Sarah Rosenthal said that the DWP should incur the costs of this pipe repair and not pass it on to their customers. DWP can only pay for stuff from the money it gets from its customers. It is rate-payer supported and makes money from no other source (significantly). In order to support large capital projects, DWP needs to make sure it can support those projects for the many years it will take to complete them.

Niall states that the last water rate increase to replace pipes was not spent on replacing them simply because he has not seen it. Well, let's keep in mind that you probably see less than 1% of the city's streets a day. You simply can't see all that is going on. Secondly, there are over 7,200 miles of pipe in the city. There are pipes under almost every single street! Much of that (I'd like to see a percentage someplace) needs to be replaced. Replacing even 25% of that (1,800 miles) is a daunting task and requires time and money. It will not be done over night!

DWP needs to pick up the pace in replacing these pipes. They need to hire more crews and train them. Unfortunately, that will take time and money, and we must be willing to wait and pay if we want continued excellent service. DWP wants nothing more than to upgrade its system because it means more reliability, which means more people buying water!

[steve]

I love bursting pipes

[Brenton Wiley]

we had the same trouble in Adelaide a little while ago. Old pipes were part of the problem, the main factor was 'reactive' soil. during times of drought the soil dries up, once rain soaks the soil it reacts and becomes hydro-turgid putting abnormal pressure on the pipe.

[Gordon Potik]

Some are saying that since we cut back on water usage in LA the pressure builds and pipes burst. More propoganda from the DWP to get more money to fix their problems.

Why is this happening mostly in the valley area?

The valley was the last major area to be builey up ... maybe the contractors ... now long gone ... were the reason. They put down dysfunctional pipelines. Something to think about and review.

Maybe their was a gas bubble in the line and the line needed to fart. I know, that is ridiculous. So is the other theory of pressure building up because of the new water policy causing the lines to burst. If true then where were the water people when they made the suggestion. Why didnt they think through the consequences of the water cut back?

[Jon C.]

This is just plain stupid, of course it is water hammer, from the "Nanny City Government" doing a stupid mandate to have the whole city water on Monday and Thursday, causing a huge load on the system, followed by a huge reduction, ergo: WATER HAMMER! Water hammer on a giant 100 year old pipe, is a huge strain, especially when there is a turn in the pipe...
When they announced the artificial water shortage, due to some little speckled fish that was getting sucked up into the pumps, I thought, "that is a dumb idea". They should have different days of watering in different parts of the city, to prevent the huge change in water flow, but I guess that was just to complicated for these brainiacs....
Now they want more money for there stupidity, maybe they should use the money they get, to fix the pipes, instead of spending it on bureaucrats, union workers pensions, and breast pumps!