L.A. City Officials Need to Plug the Bursting Pipes

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Author: Chloe Jenkins-Sleczkowski

You may have heard about the recent water problems in Los Angeles. No, I’m not talking about water shortages and droughts. And I’m not talking about the water sanitation issues. And no, I’m not talking about the sewage water deposit issues. L.A. has once again dug itself into a well, so to speak. Just when this city has seemingly made it past one hurdle, another one promptly overflows. Far and wide across this beautiful city of lawns and palm trees (both non-native), water pipes keep bursting their bubbles. Literally.

The truth of the matter is that arid climates are naturally short on water. And the simple fact is that Los Angeles is not exactly a tropical rainforest. That’s why it takes millions of gallons of water to irrigate our sandy soil to grow our grassy plots. But that’s not the issue here.

The issue is that the water pipelines lining every block of the city keep exploding. In September alone, Los Angeles saw over 43 major breaks in pipelines, according to the New York Times. This is obviously a problem because 1) the city has to repair them, 2) they make a mess and flood the streets and 3) the water gushing forth, which we’re stealing from the farmers in the Valley, becomes wasted.

Each day brings two, three or more pipeline breakages. Over and over, the L.A. Department of Water and Power (DWP) officials have been releasing statements that remind us that they have no idea what’s happening. “At this point, theories abound,” DWP General Manager David Nahai told the Contra Costa Times. He said that the theories range from “potentially higher ground temperature” to “whether some pipes were made of different material or the chemistry is different.”

This just translates to: “We’re still scratching our heads.” They keep telling us that they don’t want to rule out any possibilities, leaving the field wide open for us to import our own theories. Perhaps it was extra-terrestrial involvement? No, it’s probably the terrorists! And each day the officials search through the grab bag for a new bunch of excuses.

Here’s a great one, the “expert” opinion supported by the DWP itself: The recent water rationing has been causing too many pressure changes in the pipes, putting too much tension on them. In trying to save our water, we’re actually destroying our pipelines? So then their solution would be to stop rationing our water. That makes sense.

The fact of the matter is that no one knows why L.A. is becoming host to secret underground geysers. Officials keep on saying that the age of the pipes is not the only thing to blame. Well, fine. Then what is? L.A. currently contains over 7,200 miles of pipeline underground, some of which are over 100 years old, according to the L.A. Times. Now, I’m no pipe expert, but I believe that even zinc-coated steel and copper pipes break down eventually. My question is, why hasn’t L.A. been replacing these pipes as soon as they started to age?

It’s true that a mass pipe replacement of the city’s underground water supply would wreak havoc on the city. Neighborhoods would be inaccessible, cars wouldn’t be able to go anywhere, businesses would suffer. We simply can’t handle a wide-scale replacement.

Which is why we should have been slowly replacing pipes starting 20 years ago. If only DWP officials had had the foresight to realize that, hey, these pipes are starting to get rusty, maybe they could have slowly replaced segments of the city, block by block. They could have set aside a yearly budget for water system repairs.

Instead, today we’re stuck with bursting pipes in every corner of the city. We don’t know if Eagle Rock will be next. But we do know that the whole city’s pipes are alarmingly overdue for a transplant. The solution? Wear rain boots.

All I know is that when the water hits the fan, this stuff’s going to spray everywhere.

Chloe Jenkins-Sleczkowski is a senior ECLS major. She can be reached at cjenkins@oxy.edu.

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