A day after a major water pipe ruptured near UCLA, the campus
and much of West Los Angeles were still without drinkable tap
water, but campus officials said most daily operations were
otherwise unaffected by the event.
About 25,000 L.A. residents, including all of Westwood and the
UCLA campus, lost water pressure Wednesday afternoon as city
workers trying to fix a leaky valve instead broke a 36-inch water
main north of campus, said Kim Hughes, a spokeswoman with the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The incident occurred at about 1 p.m. and water service was
restored to residents beginning around 5 p.m. Wednesday.
City officials issued an alert which was posted on UCLA Web
sites several hours after the incident advising residents to boil
all water before using it for cooking or drinking.
That advisory remained in effect Thursday as a precautionary
measure, and probably would continue at least until the department
conducts additional tests this morning, Hughes said.
City technicians were testing the water throughout the day
Thursday at various points along the pipeline and would continue
until test results indicated the pipes were clear of all bacteria
and microorganisms, she said. The state mandates that an advisory
be put into effect when the water pressure in a pipe drops below
five pounds per square inch.
Signs were posted across campus on buildings and water fountains
notifying students, staff and faculty of the advisory.
Jack Powazek, assistant vice chancellor for general services,
said the university received several truckloads of bottled water
and was distributing them as requested.”Everyone’s been
very mature and professional about it. Most operations have been
fairly normal,” he said.
The UCLA Medical Center had to take several special precautions,
said spokeswoman Roxanne Moster.
Doctors and nurses used sterile alcohol wipes to clean their
hands after running them under tap water, and immunocompromised
patients were bathed with wipes instead of water, she said. The
cafeteria also used paper plates and plastic utensils.
“We just wanted to reassure our patients and visitors and
staff that there was no impact on the hospital’s ability to
provide appropriate medical care,” Moster said, adding that
the hospital had no reports of illness as a result of ingesting
water after the incident.
On the Hill, on-campus residents were given bottled water at
residence hall front desks, and were notified of the precautions by
signs posted throughout the buildings. Suzanne Seplow, director of
the Office of Residential Life, said she was “impressed and
pleased with the majority of students” and how they responded
to the disturbance.
Only one item on the dining hall menus ““ nachos ““
had to be pulled because of concerns over water safety, said Jack
Gibbons, associate director of ORL.
Students on campus said the incident had minimal impacts on
their day. As he waited for a sandwich at Shorty’s Subs,
Tanva Samtiyadekul, a graduate student at the Anderson School, said
he wasn’t able to cook because he didn’t want to use
water for his cooking, but said he hasn’t been affected
otherwise.
“Usually I just buy bottled water, so it doesn’t
matter anyway,” he said.
Nicole Ulivi, a third-year economics student, took some extra
precautions of her own.
“Because I’m paranoid, I used two water bottles to
wash my face,” she said.