The rupture of a nearly century-old water main that turned a section of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) into a mucky mess highlights the risks and expense many US cities face with water lines installed generations ago.
Tuesday’s flooding, which sent more than 76 million liters of water cascading from a water main, came during California’s worst drought in decades and on the same day that tough new state fines took effect for residents who waste water by hosing down driveways or using a hose without a nozzle to wash a car.
Much of the piping that carries drinking water in the US dates to the first half of the 20th century.
Photo: EPA
There are 240,000 breaks a year, according to the National Association of Water Companies, a problem it said is compounded by an increasing population and budget crunches that slow the pace of replacement.
“Much of our drinking water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life,” the American Society of Civil Engineers said in adding that cost of replacing pipes in coming decades could exceed US$1 trillion.
The water companies group says nearly half of the pipes in the US are in poor shape, and the average age of a broken water main is 47 years. In Los Angeles, 300,000m of piping has been delivering water for at least 100 years.
Photo: EPA
When taps are running and swimming pools are brimming, no one pays attention to water lines, typically underground. However, the US has reached a point where vast lengths of pipe are wearing out at about the same time, the nonprofit American Water Works Association’s Greg Kail said.
The 76cm pipe that burst on Tuesday shot a 9m geyser into the air that sent water down storm drains and onto campus.
The pipe was still gushing 3,785 liters per minute on Wednesday and officials said repairs could take another two days.
The pipe had been worked on before. While the cause of the break remained under investigation, Mike Miller, a district superintendent for the City of Los Angeless Department of Water and Power, said the crack occurred near a connection where the 93-year-old water main joined a pipe installed in 1956.
Los Angeles’ reputation for producing the next new things in style and culture does not extend to its creaky infrastructure. The city is decades behind in repairs to cratered streets and sidewalks and some of its water lines have been around so long that William Mulholland — the city’s water superintendent in the early 1900s — could have seen them going in.
Mulholland is the father of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, completed in 1913, that brings water from 322km away and reshaped the city from a parched railhead into the US’ second-most populous city.
The UCLA flood left people stranded in parking garages and sent water cascading into the school’s basketball court, Pauley Pavilion, less than two years after a US$136 million renovation.
UCLA vice chancellor Kelly Schmader said up to 25cm of water covered the basketball court, which showed signs of buckling. The floor is to be repaired or replaced as necessary and will be ready by the start of the basketball season this fall, athletic director Dan Guerrero said.
On Wednesday evening, six men helping to pump water out of the pavilion were treated for exposure to carbon monoxide from a generator’s exhaust, city fire spokeswoman Katherine Main said. Two were taken to a hospital in fair condition and four were treated onsite, she said. The generator was shut off and the building was aired out.
Despite the rupture, no utility customers were without water. No injuries were reported.
UCLA officials said six facilities were damaged and about 960 vehicles remained trapped, with many totally submerged.
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