LOS ANGELES — Officials here are investigating whether this city’s new water-rationing plan is contributing to the increased number of bigger, more destructive main breaks that have occurred in September, the Los Angeles Times reported in a September 19 article. The article was titled “L.A. is sprinkling less, but gushing more.”

The city’s new ordinance calls for sprinklers to run only on Mondays and Thursdays. Since the water-rationing plan was put in place in June, water department officials began noticing an uptick in what they call “major blowouts”: main breaks that cause streets to flood, pavement to buckle, and in some cases homes and businesses to flood.

The Department of Water and Power reported on September 18 that since September 1, the department has recorded 34 “major blowouts” in L.A.’s water system. There were 21 such ruptures recorded in all of September 2008, 17 in September 2007 and 13 in September 2006.

City engineers’ investigations have included soil sampling, laboratory analysis of pipe pieces, and a statistical analysis on each break. Other causes, such as water rationing, also are being investigated and the DWP is seeking help from universities and other experts.

Some agree that the twice-a-week surge flow may be putting added stress on aging pipes, and that more study is needed.

Richard Little, director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at the University of Southern California (USC), said the timing of the blowouts — coming soon after the city imposed a major change in water usage with the restrictions — is highly curious. “To me that is an ‘aha’ moment,” he told the Times.

Little suggests investigators study the way the shifting pressure from the rationing is hitting the water mains.

Another expert, Jean-Pierre Bardet, chairman of USC’s civil engineering department, suggested that officials investigate whether other cities with water rationing have experienced such main breaks.

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