Department of Water and Power crews reported “major progress” Sunday in the effort to restore water to more than 9,000 customers in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch who have been without service since a valve broke Tuesday.
The broken valve was cut and removed and a new section of pipe that will allow normal water flow to the 10-million-gallon tank serving the area was being welded in place Sunday morning, the utility said.
“During this time, it remains very important that customers in the area avoid using tap water until further notice,” officials added, emphasizing that using water will delay the progress of repairs.
Earlier, the utility said crews would begin quality sampling and testing as soon as possible.
“We are working with our regulators in the Division of Drinking Water to make sure we follow the strict guidelines for testing and reporting, which requires that we send the water samples to the lab and get results that may take about 18 hours,” the utility said Saturday. “These are critical steps to restore water quality and ultimately lift the Boil Water Notice.”
The LADWP said crews needed to excavate 24 feet underground to access and repair the damaged valve.
“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.”
Residents are being asked 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.
DWP crews had intended to begin emptying the water from the pipe connecting to the temporary water source at 8 p.m. Saturday to replace the broken valve but they encountered a problem.
“At approximately 5 p.m., the pipe blew out and spilled the water onto the street,” the LADWP said. “The pumps and valves have been shut and while residual water in the pipe continues to flow, this does not impede our plans and continued progress to start the de-watering process.”
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.
Officials originally said the repairs would take until Friday but later noted that accessing the broken valve proved problematic.
The DWP said it has distributed more than one million bottles of water, and delivered more than 1,200 gallons of water to vulnerable home-bound customers, including seniors and customers with disabilities and functional needs, who are unable to visit the bottled water distribution centers.
In the meantime, the DWP has opened five service sites to help customers affected by the outage.
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/granada-hills-and-porter-ranch-customer-resources/.