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May 16, 2014 (San Diego) - There has been much attention recently focusing on current and impending water shortages in the State of California, County of San Diego, and specifically the City of San Diego. But water shortage is only part of the problem, concludes a Grand Jury report titled “Don’t Give Me A Break—Water Problems in the City of San Diego.” There are continuing problems with pipeline distribution of the City’s existing water supplies—and the City has failed to alert citizens to the urgency of future water main replacement, the Grand Jury concluded.
The San Diego County Grand Jury, motivated by the frequent disruptions of service in the City resulting from water main breaks and fire hydrant damage, has investigated both the San Diego Public Utilities Department (SDPUD) procedures for handling water service interruptions and its plans to minimize such problems in the future.
Below are statements from a press release issued yesterday by the Grand Jury:
Although most of the old cast iron mains have been replaced, the City is now facing the prospect of having to replace over 2,100 miles of asbestos cement pipe, a problem which potentially dwarfs the cast iron problem. Much of this decades-old asbestos cement pipe is now reaching the end of its predicted service life, so rather than diminishing; pipe breakage may actually begin accelerating.
The Grand Jury also discovered inadequate communication within the SDPUD and insufficiently equipped SDPUD emergency response personnel. Emergency Services is the group of first responders within the Water Construction & Maintenance division of the SDPUD. They are the first to respond to all reports of water improperly flowing anywhere within the City.
The Grand Jury discovered that the ES personnel are ill equipped to provide timely service as they are provided archaic tools to find their way to reported water emergencies. Responders still use the Thomas Guide when GPS devices would be better suited to provide up-to-date information on the location of key shut-off valves as well as the best route to the emergency from their current location. Precious extra time may be spent by ES personnel in finding the water main break, which has a negative impact on the local citizens affected by the leak.
The Grand Jury recommendations included accelerating replacement of asbestos cement water mains with PVC and alerting ratepayers to probable impacts on water rates, inspecting recently repaired streets to assure valves were not paved over, as well as technical, computer and training improvements among other things.
The complete report can be found on the Grand Jury’s website: www.sdcounty.ca.gov/grandjury or by clicking here.
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