Water main break turns street into a river

Early in the afternoon of Aug. 30, the Alpine Water Users Association issued a notice to their customers that a water main had been hit near Alpine Lane and Rose Lane. “Your water pressure may be affected until the main is repaired,” the notice said, with the additional note that crews were working to repair the leak.

A call to this newspaper from Twin Peaks Auto Service alerted us to the situation. A crew from PAR Electrical Contractors was installing new power poles in the area and apparently mistakenly drilled into the water main.

“The water is rushing down the street like a river,” said Rory Balmer, worried about the amount of water being lost.

A spokesman for Southern California Edison confirmed that PAR was working in the area. “We never do any digging without checking,” said David Song. “We always make the request to have the marking done (to indicate water and gas lines). There was some discrepancy in the marking on the street.”

The Alpine Water Users Association crew made the necessary repairs and informed their customers in the early evening that their water was back on. However, they also issued a “boil water” notice for water being used for drinking or cooking “as a safety precaution to avoid stomach or intestinal illness.

“We will inform you when tests show that water is safe to drink and you no longer need to boil your water. We anticipate resolving the problem (by) Sept. 3.”

No one was available at Alpine Water Users Association on Tuesday morning to give an estimate of the amount of water lost.