Water Pipe Under Road Bursts

A pipe supplying reclaimed water to Oak Park cracked and burst shortly after midnight Friday, uprooting the road above it, slowing morning traffic and cutting off the main source of irrigation for median strips and communal portions of housing subdivisions throughout the community.

An initial examination of the 20-foot portion of damaged PVC piping running beneath Hawthorne Drive suggests the break was caused by a manufacturing defect, said Donald R. Kendall, general manager for the Calleguas Municipal Water District.

More tests were being conducted and a special robotic camera was being used to inspect other areas of pipeline for additional problems.

No one was injured as a result of the break, which occurred between 12:30 and 2 a.m. However, with the 16-inch diameter pipe packing about 200 pounds of pressure per square inch, Kendall said the rupture could have been at least dangerous and potentially deadly had anyone been walking or driving atop the residential road near Oak Hills Elementary School when the break occurred.

Drinking water for residents and businesses was not affected. Neither were sewage systems.

Although 300,000 gallons of water escaped the pipe, much of it spilled underground. No major flooding occurred.

Hawthorne Drive will be closed between Kanan Road and Mareto Way for about 10 days while a road crew repaves an 800-foot stretch of asphalt. Those repairs are expected to cost $100,000 or less. The damage from Friday’s line break is not expected to affect area water rates.

Reclaimed water will be out communitywide until the line is repaired, perhaps by the middle of next week.

That should not affect residents’ ability to keep up their lawns. Outdoor pipes for garden hoses on single-family homes hook up to potable water lines, not reclaimed water lines, Kendall said. Also, the water district plans to reroute drinking water to irrigate medians and subdivision landscaping until the reclaimed water line is repaired.

Area golf courses--which faced the greatest potential threat--are expected to get through the next week unharmed.