UPDATE: Water Service to be Restored 6-7 p.m. on Broken Water Main on Mora Drive

Editor's note: Los Altos Patch thanks San Antonio Hills resident Peter Stanley for alerting us to this story and sending photos from the scene.

The California Water Service Company will restore service by 6 or 7 p.m. Friday to about 50 households in the San Antonio hills area in unincorporated Los Altos, a district manager said.

The pre-dawn water main break sent water flooding down Mora Drive, initially knocking out water service to more than 100 homes and opening up chunks of asphalt on the roadway.

"The plumbing is finished, and now we're putting in new material and road base over it," said Ronald Richardson, district manager for the utility, also known as Cal Water. Crews will put in temporary asphalt, and return over the next two weeks to install more permanent roadway.

The broken water main, an 8-inch pipe at the intersection of Mora Drive and Esberg Road, sent enough water to open a sinkhole at the intersection and inundate a garage and several backyards, including that of resident Peter Stanley.

"I went to the street at 6 a.m. to grab the newspaper and see the flood coming down the street," emailed Stanley, who lives on Mora Drive. 

Richardson said that service was first restored to more than 50 percent of the homes initially affected by the break, but Cal Water spent most of Friday repairing the main.

The work attracted the curiosity of neighborhood children, who followed the progress all day. "One had a collection of toy construction equipment," Richardson said. "He had backhoes, bobcats and dump trucks, which was the same as the equipment he could see on the street today."

About 50 households, remained without water service during the repair, that involved replacing a small section of the 8" water main and possibly two valves, Richardson said. 

The water company offered free bottled water to residents in the affected area and has disbursed several gallons so far, Richardson added. 

The area without water service encompassed:

- Mora Drive (700 block and part of the 800 block)

- Thorsen Court

- Mora Court 

- Esberg Road

- Hierra Court

"My wife was in the shower, and I think she got the last one in the neighborhood," Stanley quipped in his email.

Richardson said Cal Water received calls around 6 a.m. and had a crew on the scene within a half hour. Sheriff's deputies were on scene initially, said Sgt. Troy Smith of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department.

Richardson said the company does not yet know the reason for the water main break.

Earlier in the week, the water company had received calls reporting leakage and had investigated, but had not been able to perform repairs. Cal Water sent out an "underground service alert" to utilities that may have lines in the area, such as gas lines, electrical lines and the like, but the utilities had not yet had enough time to respond. Utilities are supposed to mark where their lines are so that Cal Water can use the appropriate equipment in the area.

"We were asking for other utilities to mark the area so we know if there are other utilities such as a gas main—or electrical or fiber optic—in close proximity, so we don't do more damage," he said.

With temperatures predicted in the high 80s Friday, Stanley said people were taking the water shut-off in stride. 

"And I will take this over a gas leak, any day," he added.