A water pipe break on Rimmer sent thousands of gallons of water into the street before DWP could stop the flow.
A resident alerted Circling the News to a broken water main on Rimmer Street. The pipe broke about 10:30 a.m. and residents immediately alerted the L.A. Department of Water.
It took almost two hours before the water was finally shut off and a resident said, “It was painful to watch thousands of gallons go down the drain.”
CTN contacted DWP about the time it took to stop the water flow and Spokesperson Ellen Cheng responded in an email on June 22.
“We understand the concern for water loss, especially during the drought that we are in,” Cheng said. “Every drop of water is precious, and our crews respond as quickly and safely as they can to every report of a pipe break.”
She explained that the pipe break on Rimmer was a larger diameter pipe, “which explains the volume of water from the leak. Our crews were dispatched not long after they received the assignment, and it took another hour to shut off the main.”
The resident said that a DWP worker came by around noon to shut off the water to the houses above Rimmer Street, which stopped the gushing water.
A full crew was on site at about 3 p.m. “A foreman kept us updated on the work,” the resident said.
The crew finished around 8 p.m. and water was turned back on at residents’ homes.
Cheng told CTN that “LADWP’s leak rate is about 14 leaks per 100 miles. That’s compared to the national average of 25 leaks per 100 miles.”