...
Thursday, September 10th, 2026

Water main break turns street into a river

Sep 2, 2021 | Front Page

Utility workers repairing road with traffic cones.

By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor

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.

0 Comments

Share

Business Directory

goodwin-web-ad
kw logo adopt a highway
Arrowhead Boat Yard
MCH-web-ad

READ SIMILAR ARTICLES

MacKay Fire Threatened Structures

MacKay Fire Threatened Structures

By Mary-Justine Lanyon   At 2:46 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5, a fire broke out in a pile of split wood across from MacKay Park, in the area behind Mountains Community Health. The fire spread into adjacent vegetation with what was called a “rapid rate of spread,”...

An update on California’s insurance market

An update on California’s insurance market

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara recently held an online discussion on the current state of the insurance market in California. He was joined by Carolyn Kousky of Insurance for Good and Amy Bach of United Policyholders Here are some takeaways from that discussion:...

Pine Cone Festival announces hiatus

Pine Cone Festival announces hiatus

The Pine Cone Festival steering committee has announced that the annual festival will take a pause for the upcoming season. This decision was reached after careful consideration by the dedicated team of volunteers. Due to various evolving circumstances, taking a...