City crews restored water service Monday for thousands of residents and businesses in the northwest San Fernando Valley after nearly a weeklong outage.
A broken valve deep underground prevented running water for more than 9,200 customers in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced service was completely restored as of 2:27 a.m. Monday. Residents are now able to use tap water for showering, flushing toilets, irrigating landscapes and other home or business uses.
Officials still urged customers in the affected area to continue using boiled or bottled water for cooking and drinking until the DWP does two 18-hour rounds of water-quality testing.
The affected area is bounded roughly by Rinaldi Avenue and the 118 Freeway on the south, Balboa Boulevard on the east, De Soto Avenue on the west and the foothills and hills to the north.
The 10-million-gallon Susana Tank was being refilled Sunday night through the DWP’s normal pumping process after days of using a temporary Metropolitan Water District supply.
The outage occurred last Tuesday when a valve broke during repair work at a pump station, stopping water flow through a 54-inch pipeline that supplies the Susana Tank, according to the DWP. Crews had to dig 24 feet underground to access the broken valve located near oil pipelines, a fiber-optic line and a natural gas line. The complexity of the site required widening the trench before the valve could be removed.
The outage came during a week of temperatures in the mid-to-high 90s in the affected area.
The DWP distributed more than 1 million bottles of water and delivered more than 1,200 gallons to vulnerable residents, including homebound seniors and customers with disabilities, agency officials said.
The DWP and Mayor Karen Bass’ office noted these locations that remained open Monday with services for residents affected by the water outage:
- Holleigh Bernson Memorial Park, 7 a.m.-9 p.m., 20500 Sesnon Blvd. in Porter Ranch — water bottle distribution, recycled water, restrooms, showers and mobile laundry units;
- O’Melveny Park, 7 a.m.-9 p.m., 17300 Sesnon Blvd. in Granada Hills — water bottle distribution, recycled water and restrooms;
- Intersection of Tampa Avenue and Sesnon Boulevard, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. on the border of Northridge and Porter Ranch — water bottles and recycled water;
- YMCA, 5 a.m.-10 p.m. 11336 Corbin St. in Porter Ranch — showers and mobile laundry units;
- Intersection of Rinaldi Avenue and Louise Avenue, 5 a.m.-10 p.m. in Granada Hills — showers, mobile laundry units, restrooms.
The DWP’s website lists additional services and resources for affected customers.
