Officials say water restoration in Granada Hills, Porter Ranch can't happen without cooperation
Amid urgent repairs to the water supply and calls for conservation Saturday, a massive water line break flooded streets nearby.
GRANADA HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Crews worked for a fifth day in a row Saturday to restore water service to more than 9,200 customers in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch. While residents deal with no water, a giant stream erupted from the ground and flowed down the street.
Video shows a water line break near the valve crews are trying to repair, causing flooding through the streets and the backyard of a home.
It's not exactly how the Nazarians pictured water returning to their Granada Hills home.
"I saw that water, and I was like, 'Wow, what is that?'" Lucy Nazarian said
The couple watched their now-broken security camera as the powerful deluge from a broken pipe on Balboa Boulevard and Senson Boulevard damaged their fence, dented their gutters, and even somehow ripped off a huge tree branch and tossed it into their yard.
Thankfully, no one was home, like their four grandkids who are almost always over and in the yard.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power downplayed the pipe blowout, saying it was connecting to a temporary water source that they planned to shut off Saturday night anyway.
The dramatic scene played out, sending countless gallons of water flowing down the street, minutes after city officials pleaded with the residents of Granada Hills and Porter Ranch to conserve water for the remainder of the weekend.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass held a press conference on Saturday with Councilman John Lee, General Manager of the LADWP Janisse Quiñones and the Los Angeles Fire Department, where they all issued a strong message to the community about conserving water over the next 48 hours.
"I first and foremost want to thank the workers from the Department of Water and Power for all that they do," Bass said. "The fact that they are here on one of the hottest days of the year and are actually working 24 hours a day to get water flowing through Granada Hills and Porter Ranch, to restore the water."
Bass passionately urged all Angelenos living in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch to conserve water as workers continue to fix the issue, which has been ongoing for five days.
"Please do everything that you can to conserve your use of water," Bass said. "We are very concerned that if people continue to use the water that is coming out of their faucets today, it is going to delay the ability of the DWP to get the line back and restored and for your use of water to be back to normal so you don't have to boil water, so that you don't have to conserve."
Over the last two days, many of the 31,000 people impacted have seen water return to their sinks and showers, but families are being asked not to use it because it impacts efforts to re-pressurize the system.
The Los Angeles Fire Department is in the area out of an abundance of caution, taking extra measures to ensure there is no danger or risk as the area experiences hot weather in addition to the lack of water.
"Please, just don't use water as much as possible. We have sites where you can pick up water," Lee said. "We need to build up that pressure, we need to build up that tank, so we can make the necessary repairs, so that we can get out of this mess and go back to normal."
Since Tuesday evening, crews have been working to replace a failed valve that controls the water flow into the affected areas, while also pumping water into the system. As of 1:30 p.m. Saturday, the 10-million-gallon tank serving the area was approximately 20% full.
"Although you might have water flow and water pressure, using water lowers the level in the tank and overall pressure in the system," Quiñones said. "Your cooperation significantly impacts the speed of repairs and the impacts to the community."
The tank has lost an equivalent of 1 million gallons during high-demand periods, Quiñones said. That is equal to 776,000 toilet flushes or 10 Olympic pools.
She stressed that the repair to the valve is complex and involves working around other critical infrastructure 20 feet underground. Now until Monday morning is the most critical time of the repair, as the temporary water lines are being removed so they can get the main pipe fixed and back working.
Officials said water quality testing to lift the boil water notice will start as soon as pressure is restored in all impacted areas. The goal is to start that Saturday night -- but only if pressure is maintained in the system -- with the hope that all repairs will be finished by 3 a.m. Monday.
The DWP said crews needed to excavate 24 feet underground to access and repair a valve that was damaged Tuesday.
"The water disruption stems from a deeply buried broken valve on a major 54-inch diameter water pipeline that supplies the Susana Tank serving the area, with approximately 104 miles of water system pipes serving 9,200 customers impacted by the incident," the utility said. "The repair site is located near critical infrastructure -- including oil pipelines, a fiber optic line, and a gas line. The complexity of the operation has now necessitated additional excavation to widen the trench. Repairs are expected to continue through the weekend."
While the repair work continues, customers remain on a boil water alert and are being urged not to use their running tap water if it happens to be working.
The affected area is bounded roughly by Rinaldi Avenue on the south, Balboa Boulevard on the east, De Soto Avenue on the west and the foothills and hills to the north.
DWP officials reported some progress Saturday.
"As of 7:00 AM, the 10-million-gallon tank serving the area has reached approximately 27% capacity -- a strong step forward," the utility said. "To speed up the process, we installed an additional pump overnight, and two more are on the way this Saturday. These extra pumps will boost water flow, allowing us to begin water quality testing earlier than usual -- before repairs are fully complete."
DWP officials originally said the repairs could take until Friday. The utility noted that accessing the broken valve proved problematic.
Residents in the affected area are being asked to use bottled water for drinking and cooking, keep all indoor and outdoor taps closed, refrain from doing laundry and dishes, and turn off all sprinklers, smart irrigation systems and swimming pool automatic fill systems.
In the meantime, the DWP added two more service sites to help customers affected by the outage, bringing the number of those sites to five. Since Wednesday, they've handed out more than a million bottles of water, and that will continue on Sunday.
Their locations are:
- Holleigh Bernson Memorial Park, 20500 Sesnon Blvd, Porter Ranch (water bottle distribution, recycled water distribution, restrooms, showers, mobile laundry units; open 7 a.m.-9 p.m.)
- O'Melveny Park, 17300 Sesnon Blvd., Granada Hills (water bottle distribution, recycled water distribution, restrooms; open 7 a.m.-9 p.m.)
- Intersection of Tampa Avenue And Sesnon Boulevard on the border of Northridge and Porter Ranch (water bottle distribution and recycled water distribution; open 7 a.m.-9 p.m.)
- YMCA, 11336 Corbin St., Porter Ranch (showers, mobile laundry units; open 5 a.m.-10 p.m.)
- Intersection of Rinaldi and Louise Avenue (showers, mobile laundry units, restrooms; open 5 a.m.-10 p.m.)
A complete list of services available to affected customers is available at ladwpnews.com.
City News Service contributed to this report.
