Dry Taps Greet Early Risers in Newport Beach

Some residents of Corona del Mar and Newport Heights awoke Friday to find that their water taps were practically dry.

By 6:30 a.m., calls were pouring into the Newport Beach Department of Public Works, Director Don Webb said, as water pressure at 4,000 to 5,000 homes slowed to a drip.

“We were able to establish that it was not a water main break but a supply problem from the Metropolitan Water District,” Webb said.

The city and water district have not determined what caused the problem. Water to those areas was coming from wells in Fountain Valley, as it does for several months each year, Webb said. The city restored service by switching to another source.

Water was back on at most homes by 8:30 a.m., Webb said, and customers should notice little difference in what flows from their faucets.

“Metropolitan Water District water is a little harder because a lot of it is coming from the Colorado River and has more dissolved solids,” he said. “The well water is a little softer because it’s filtered though the ground water basin. . . . But, no, people won’t be able to tell.”