Water Main Break Closes Mall Shops Until Saturday

A water main that was installed as part of a $10-million renovation project and subsequently broke has forced most stores in a Simi Valley mall to remain closed until Saturday and prompted tenants to complain that the burst pipe is only the latest in a series of problems there.

The 10-inch-diameter main--which serves the mall’s approximately 40 shops and restaurants as well as a system of fire hydrants and water sprinklers--was repaired Monday after the break was discovered last Saturday by firefighters en route to a call elsewhere, fire officials said Wednesday. But the city and the county health department ordered the mall’s entire water system to be re-chlorinated and tested for bacteria before businesses reopen, a process that should be completed Friday, authorities said.

The mall’s owner said that all construction work at the site had been done with the appropriate permits. “Everything we’ve done up there, we’ve done with permitting by the city,” said Robert Champion, president of Champion Development Co.