LA Times reported that on 11 May 2015 morning, 12-inched water main ruptured and burst in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, flooding roads, garages, lawns, and homes.
The break caused over 10,000 gallons of water flowing into the streets – the streets of drought-stricken California’s busiest city.
The break created a massive sinkhole in the road and more than two dozen customers of LADPW were without service for half a day. The problem is being blamed on the already-noted aging water utility infrastructure.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
“Residents, who have experienced multiple water main break floods in recent years criticized the utility for the latest incident.
“What really gets me the most,” resident Roxanne McBride told KTLA, “is that the gallons and gallons of water that was wasted, this entire block of over 265 people that live here, could have used that water for a week.”
A Times analysis of city data last year showed there had been 5,200 leaks in L.A. DWP pipes since 2010, and that two-thirds of those leaking pipes were installed before 1950.
The main that ruptured Sunday was installed in 1936, according to the report from KABC.”
This recurring problem could be the difference between survival and dehydration in California over the crucial next few years and needs to be solved. Infrastructure Week just hit a sobering reality.
Inframanage.com notes that even with the best infrastructure asset management program in place, a utility can still suffer pipe main breaks.
Managing the risks, and returning pipe infrastructure to a state where breaks are unlikely can take significant time and resources.
What is very common, is that when citizens are being asked to make sacrifices and conserve water, as is the case in California, then they become very critical of any failing and waste of water by the utility.
The key to managing infrastructure asset management risks is a high level of public communication by the water utility infrastructure management authorities, that continues through the water conservation period.
PHOTO CREDIT: “WeHoCityHall“. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons. The photo has been cropped to suit website requirements.
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