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Two water mains ruptured in the early morning hours in the West Valley today, the first in Winnetka close to 2:30 a.m., and the second around 4:30 a.m. a mile and a half south in Warner Center, according to MyFOXla.com. City leaders and DWP customers are worried that there seems to be more significant main breaks lately than usual, but it could just be that we all have water (mains) on the brain because of the two high-profile breaks that occurred earlier this month in Studio City and Valley Village. Recently, a DWP official told us that of the 1,400 breaks and leaks per year on DWP lines, about 200 are significant enough to be made newsworthy.
Between the Studio City/Valley Village breaks and this morning's duo have been a string of breaks that have cause minor flooding: "A main ruptured under Exposition Boulevard, near 11th Avenue, between midnight and 1 a.m. Tuesday," while "an 8-inch-diameter water main broke Saturday on Melrose Avenue near Fairfax High School. Another ruptured Friday in the Vermont Knolls area of South Los Angeles," and one week ago, "two 6-inch water lines broke in the Fairfax District."
Amidst these breaks "Los Angeles City Council members said last week they intended to monitor ongoing upgrades to 7,000 miles of city pipelines." These upgrades are to what the DWP attribute the actual number of breaks and leaks being "on the decline." Not on the decline, however: Your water rates. Those are likely to be on the rise.