Error Shuts Off Water at 2 Downtown Jails

Water line glitches at the Twin Towers correctional facility and the Los Angeles County Central Jail forced thousands of inmates to share portable toilets and go two days without running water, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman said Monday.

The shortage began Thursday evening in the Men’s Central Jail, after a contractor working on the Blue Line light rail project on nearby Alameda Street cut off water to the jails. The contractor shut off a “gate valve” without approval from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Deputy Scott Butler.

Before full water service could be restored, more than 10,000 inmates had to share 200 portable toilets. Twin Towers and the Central Jail were locked down Friday, and visitors were not allowed, Butler said. Sheriff’s officials said that no problems were reported and that inmates cooperated.

Water had to be slowly restored to the buildings because sudden increases in water pressure could have caused severe damage, Butler said. By 8 p.m. Saturday, water had been restored to both jail facilities.