GRANADA HILLS — More than 9,200 Department of Water and Power customers in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch remained without water service Saturday, and the interruption was expected to continue through the weekend.
The DWP said crews needed to excavate 24 feet underground to access and repair a valve that was damaged Tuesday. DWP officials originally said the repairs could take until Friday, Aug. 8.
“The water disruption stems from a deeply buried broken valve on a major 54-inch diameter water pipeline that supplies the Susana Tank serving the area, with approximately 104 miles of water system pipes serving 9,200 customers impacted by the incident,” the utility said. “The repair site is located near critical infrastructure — including oil pipelines, a fiber optic line, and a gas line. The complexity of the operation has now necessitated additional excavation to widen the trench. Repairs are expected to continue through the weekend.”
The LADWP Saturday evening said repairs have reached a critical point that requires residents in the affected area to not use the tap until further notice. “Using water will delay our progress for repairs, re-pressurizing the system and completing sampling and testing to lift the Boil Water Notice.”
LADWP crews had intended to begin emptying the water from the pipe connecting to the temporary water source at 8 p.m. Saturday to replace the broken valve but they encountered a problem. “At approximately 5:00 p.m., the pipe blew out and spilled the water onto the street,” the DWP said. “The pumps and valves have been shut and while residual water in the pipe continues to flow, this does not impede our plans and continued progress to start the de-watering process.”
Repairs were expected to continue through the weekend, before another connector burst in Granada Hills on Saturday. https://t.co/3lpy2xNlTh
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) August 10, 2025
The affected area is bounded roughly by Rinaldi Avenue on the south, Balboa Boulevard on the east, De Soto Avenue on the west and the foothills and hills to the north.
DWP officials reported some progress early Saturday.
“As of 7 a.m., the 10-million-gallon tank serving the area has reached approximately 27% capacity — a strong step forward,” the utility said. “To speed up the process, we installed an additional pump overnight, and two more are on the way this Saturday. These extra pumps will boost water flow, allowing us to begin water quality testing earlier than usual — before repairs are fully complete.”
A DWP spokeswoman stressed that, even if a customer’s water happens to be working, running one’s tap still is discouraged because that would decrease the level in the tank crews are trying to re-pressurize.
Residents in the affected area are being asked use bottled water for drinking and cooking, keep all indoor and outdoor taps closed, refrain from doing laundry and dishes, and turn off all sprinklers, smart irrigation systems and swimming pool automatic fill systems.
The DWP said it has distributed more than one million bottles of water, and delivered more than 1,200 gallons of water to vulnerable home-bound customers, including seniors and customers with disabilities and functional needs, who are unable to visit the bottled water distribution centers.
In the meantime, the DWP added two more service sites to help customers affected by the outage, bringing the number of those sites to five.
Their locations are:
— Holleigh Bernson Memorial Park, 20500 Sesnon Blvd, Porter Ranch (water bottle distribution, recycled water distribution, restrooms, showers, mobile laundry units; open 7 a.m.-9 p.m.);
— O’Melveny Park, 17300 Sesnon Blvd., Granada Hills (water bottle distribution, recycled water distribution, restrooms; open 7 a.m.-9 p.m.);
— Intersection of Tampa Avenue And Sesnon Boulevard on the border of Northridge and Porter Ranch (water bottle distribution and recycled water distribution; open 7 a.m.-9 p.m.);
— YMCA, 11336 Corbin St., Porter Ranch (showers, mobile laundry units; open 5 a.m.-10 p.m.);
— Intersection of Rinaldi and Louise Avenue (showers, mobile laundry units, restrooms; open 5 a.m.-10 p.m.).
A complete list of services available to affected customers is available at ladwpnews.com/granada-hills-and-porter-ranch-customer-resources