By Susan Motander
Residents on Ridgeside Drive and Briarcliff Road in Monrovia awoke to find they had no water on Christmas morning. A booster line had broken shortly after 8:30 in the morning, but was repaired by 10:30 that same morning.
According to Monrovia’s Director of Public Services Tina Cherry, the city’s automated alert system notified the staff member on duty that there was an irregularity in the water pressure on a booster line near the corner of Canyon Blvd and Ridgeside Drive. The system regulates the water supply in the city and notifies the appropriate staff members when there is a discrepancy.
Cherry said that in this case, shortly after the automatic notification, “ an alert resident” notified police dispatch of the problem. Shortly thereafter, the city staff reported to the location of the break in the 8” cast iron line that carries water from the Ridgeside Reservoir to the Emerson Holding Tank.
“We had the water service restored to the residents by about 10:30 in the morning,” Cherry said. She said that crews continued to work throughout the day and into the night to restore the water service to the Emerson Tank fully. Cherry also said that the line in question is believed to date back to the mid 1940s, not as old as many of the city’s water lines.
“It was touching to see how many residents were patient and kind to the crew working on Christmas,” Cherry said. The Director, who responded to the scene herself on Christmas morning, said that residents who came out to see what was happening, did not complain, but rather made offers of assistance and coffee to the workers.
“It was the true Monrovia way,” she said.
