2nd Corroded Pipe Delays End of S.D. Water Crisis : Conservation: Water-saving efforts are applauded, urged on. The pipeline is expected to reopen Tuesday.

The fractured San Diego aqueduct line will be out of commission until next Tuesday because another 20-foot section, next to the one that broke, is corroded and also must be replaced, water officials said Tuesday.

With that unanticipated bad news, water agencies serving South and East County pleaded with customers to continue their conservation efforts three days longer than anticipated, and not grow complacent because of their successful water savings so far.

Indeed, some residents and businesses were taking the water crisis to heart. The Otay Water District, which has only three days of water storage in its three-dozen tanks, reported Tuesday that water use has been reduced by a remarkable 67%. The water being consumed has been replaced by the neighboring Helix Water District, which is drawing the water from its Lake Jennings Reservoir.

Keith Lewinger, general manager of the Otay district which serves Rancho San Diego, Jamul, Otay Mesa and parts of El Cajon and Chula Vista, conceded he was surprised by the dramatic cutbacks by his customers.

“People have absolutely stopped outdoor watering and are doing things indoors, too, to save water,” he said. “We’re getting incredible cooperation from the public.”

Because of the high level of conservation, water officials decided against periodic water stoppages that tentatively had been planned to start today.

But Lewinger and others said they were concerned by the forecast that the recent cool and cloudy days will give way to clearing skies and warmer days, tempting people to water their landscaping despite an order against it. Repeated violations can lead to misdemeanor prosecutions.

About 375,000 residents of East and South County--in the Otay, Helix and Padre Dam Municipal water districts--are living under a Stage 4 water emergency. That stage calls for the most dramatic water conservation efforts, including the banning of all outdoor uses of imported water, including landscape watering, car washing, pool filling and dust control and compaction at grading sites.

Agriculture experts said residents shouldn’t panic because most plants and grass will survive better than people expect, and that if the water is turned on again by Tuesday, there should be few botanical casualties.

The San Diego County Water Authority originally had hoped to have the seven-foot-diameter line, one of five water pipelines which deliver imported water to San Diego County from the Colorado River and the California Aqueduct, to be operating by Saturday, at the latest, after replacement pieces were manufactured and delivered from Los Angeles.

The line broke in the Scripps Ranch area last Friday afternoon, and inspections of the 20-foot section that was removed showed that a thin reinforcing steel tube had corroded, allowing water to seep out through the mortar and reinforced concrete that sandwiched it.

Inspectors then discovered that an accompanying 20-foot section showed similar corrosion.

“Since we already had the trench open, we thought it would be advisable to take (the second section) out right now and replace it,” said Lester Snow, general manager of the water authority. His agency buys water from the Metropolitan Water District and, in turn, delivers it to the county’s 23 independent water districts.

The prestressed concrete pipes, installed in 1973, have a one-sixteenth-inch steel liner wrapped in five-inch-thick reinforced concrete, and covered on the inside with mortar.

Essentially, the steel liner rusted, Snow said.

But there is no reason to suspect, he said, that other segments of the liner could be turning bad, too.

“It’s like having a cavity,” he said. “You don’t assume all your teeth need to be filled. There could have been a hairline crack in the pipe when it was manufactured.”

Earlier Tuesday, officials said both pieces could be installed and the line recharged by Saturday. The additional 20-foot replacement pipe that was being manufactured by the Metropolitan Water District is scheduled to arrive at the site by early this morning.

But by later in the day, the agency reassessed the work involved and said the line would not be operational until Tuesday.

“There’s just too much work to get done, and we want to allow more drying time for the concrete,” water authority spokesman Jim Melton said.

The news was met with sighs of frustration from the affected water districts.

“We know it’s really hard on our people to keep conserving like this, but if they keep up the level of conservation they’ve had since Sunday, we should be able to get through this,” said Lesley Melenchuk, spokeswoman for the Padre Dam water district. Customers there have reduced their water consumption by 52%, she said.

Customers in the Helix district, which has weeks’ worth of water in Lake Jennings, have cut back their own water usage by 32% compared with last week’s daily usage, and 40% from levels of a year ago, said Helix spokesman Shirley Massie.

Helix has been giving enough surplus water to Otay and Padre Dam to maintain their reservoirs at the same levels they were at they were before last Friday’s line break. The concern officials hold, though, is that Helix can’t replenish water in Otay’s and Padre Dam’s storage tanks as quickly as their customers could consume it, if it weren’t for the conservation.

And now the concern is turning to the weather.

National Weather Service forecaster Terry Schmeichel said Tuesday temperatures will warm today and additionally on Thursday, reaching near 90 in the inland valleys, with clear skies. Temperatures will moderate slightly during the weekend, he said.

Some residents, officials acknowledge, are watering their plants with “gray water”--water left over after use in bathtubs, washing machines and dishwashers.

But county health officials warned Tuesday that use of such water violates state law.

“There’s a health risk involved with using gray water, not so much to yourself but to others who might come in contact with it,” said John Melbourn, the county’s public health engineer. “It’s a form of sewage.”

Vincent Lazaneo, spokesman for the county’s Farm and Home Adviser’s Office, suggested that portable container plants be moved to the north side of homes for shade and wind protection.

Most ground cover, bushes and trees should do fine without water for 10 days, as should Bermuda grass.

Rose blooms may suffer from lack of water, but the bush itself should survive without water for 10 days, he said. If possible, protect the plants from southern exposure by screening them from direct sunlight, he advised.