Dozens of residents were temporarily left without water service Wednesday when part of a pipe broke at an apartment complex in Chula Vista, officials said.
According to authorities, a pipe broke around 10:40 a.m. at the Shadow Pines apartment complex located at 321 Rancho Dr. A spokesperson for the Otay Water District said it was an 8-inch pipe that had sustained a lateral break, prompting the water district to shut down water service.
The Otay Water District said the shutdown affected approximately 40 apartment units. For now, those residents have water service through a temporary above-ground water supply line.
Crews with the water district were at the scene assessing the damage and figuring out how long it would take to repair the pipe. As of 2 p.m., a spokesperson said repairs were expected to be completed by 9 p.m.
Following the pipe problem, a note was taped to the doors of the apartments at the complex, which read, in part:
"The water will be off to the entire complex for a minimum of 24 hours, possibly longer. You might notice intermittent non-pressured water flow but please DO NOT use your tap water until further notice. The Otay Water department and the Red Cross will be staged somewhere on site to provide residents with fresh water until water is restored to the complex."
Chula Vista resident Louisa Beckman told NBC 7 she was inside her apartment when, suddenly, she heard sirens. When she walked outside, she saw fire trucks lining her street and "torrential" water coming down around a fire hydrant.
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"It was beating on the roofs (of the apartments)," she explained. "It looked like the hydrant was broken."
A girl who lives at Shadow Pines with her family said she heard what "sounded like rain" coming down outside. When she walked out, she was surprised by what she saw.
"I saw a huge mountain of water – it was huge!" she told NBC 7.
At this point, it is unclear what caused the water main break.
No other information was available.
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