Full Water Service Restored in South Orange County

Orange County water officials reopened a water main and restored full service Monday to about 700,000 customers.

Residents in south Orange County--from San Juan Capistrano to Irvine--had been observing voluntary restrictions on water use after a 69-inch water main burst beneath an Irvine strawberry field on Dec. 13, spilling 5 million gallons of water.

Crews of 20 to 40 employees worked around the clock to replace the damaged parts of the line.

“It’s been a long week, but we are back in service,” said Jill T. Wicke, the manager of water service operations for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which operates the pipe. “The first agencies started taking water at 1:12 p.m.”

Officials say it is now permissible to wash the car, catch up on laundry and take hourlong soaks in the tub. They warned, however, against over-watering lawns--most of the water won’t soak into the hard-packed clay soil common in the area.

“We’re asking that people don’t rush back to water their lawns on a daily basis . . . to make up for all the watering they missed in a week,” said Bob Muir, a spokesman for the MWD.

Instead, horticulturist Tom Ash of the University of California extension office in Irvine advised that gardeners water for three minutes in the morning and three minutes in the evening.

Water officials believe software problems, inadequate training or human error probably caused the explosive break a week ago. A full report on the events leading up to the break is expected at the Jan. 11 MWD board meeting.

The Metropolitan Water District, which provides drinking water to 16 million residents from Ventura County to the Mexican border, bought the pipeline from the Municipal Water District of Orange County in 1995.

The pipeline explosion appears to have been caused by a quick opening and closing of a valve, which led to a buildup of pressure. The rupture sent chunks of concrete churning through the earth and into the air.

During the weeklong service interruption, South County residents reduced their water consumption by as much as 43% in some areas. Much of the decrease was attributable to mandatory restrictions placed on large-scale growers, but residents also complied voluntarily.

Karl W. Seckel, an assistant manager of the Municipal Water District of Orange County, thanked residents for letting their cars go dirty and allowing their greenery to wither a bit. He also made a plea for continued frugality. “Water conservation works,” he said.

Before allowing local water districts to tap the pipeline again, MWD employees rebuilt and rewelded three segments of pipe, finishing early Saturday. The 60-foot-long replacement segment was first coated in concrete and then sprayed with gunite.

Workers inspected 4,600 feet of the pipeline visually before refilling the pipeline Sunday. Water samples were taken Sunday and were found to be clean.