Water Lines

A ruptured aqueduct that shut off most water supplies to this city of more than 1 million should be repaired by early today, and water should begin flowing into the city by late in the day, authorities said Friday. "It's still an emergency situation, but the level of concern has been reduced considerably," said Miguel Ravelo, a spokesman for the Baja California state public service commission. However, water supplies are not expected to return to normal until late Tuesday--after the Memorial Day weekend, a major tourist period--because the repaired aqueduct must be tested, filled, pressurized and sanitized, Ravelo said.

The San Diego Water Utilities Department said Wednesday it wants to hike water bills by 26% in July. If approved by the City Council, the rate hike would raise the average family's bill by $3.37 a month, from $13 to $16.37. The proposed increase has nothing to do with higher water costs--those are routinely passed on to customers annually.

Fred Reinstein was always the tinkerer, the kind of boy who grew up playing with Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets. In Kansas City, Mo., in the 1950s, he was one of those kids who took things apart and never put them back together again. Now, in his early 40s, Reinstein's boyish imagination is thriving, translating itself into a multitude of gadgets, and at times, crackpot inventions.

Morning light revealed pitched tents and scattered sleeping bags in front of the sales offices of luxury builder Woodbridge Pacific Group. Attracted by a dozen new Huntington Beach homes touted as "starting in the low 1,200,000s," about 15 hopefuls had camped out for days. They were waiting for a chance to get their names on a list to buy into the first phase of a new subdivision. One would-be buyer had flown in a friend from Las Vegas to hold his place in line. Another shopper had hired a pair of men to wait in 12-hour shifts.

The City Council approved extending a 12-inch water line from Rolling Hills Road to a methane-fired electric power generator being constructed near a former landfill in Rolling Hills Estates. The generator, which will produce 13 megawatts of power, is located about 300 feet southwest of Torrance city limits on Hawthorne Boulevard. The County Sanitation Districts, the agency building the generator, has agreed to pay the costs of extending the line.

Repair crews discovered leaks Sunday in newly repaired sections of a critical San Diego County water pipeline, forcing suppliers to continue tapping other sources and to renew requests that 375,000 customers curtail "non-essential" water uses. The so-called Pomerado pipeline--which serves South Bay and East County--has been out of service since June 2, when workers began replacing five sections totaling 120 feet in the huge steel-and-concrete aqueduct structure.

Hammocker, ridden by Kerwin Clark, closed strongly Wednesday to win the $30,000 Blue Water Line Handicap at Arlington International Racecourse by 2 1/2 lengths. Hey That's Great edged Cheap Sunglasses for second in the 5 1/2-furlong dash, which was timed in 1:03 1/-5.

Fountain Valley and Newport Beach city engineers will provide an overview tonight of a five-month project to build a pipeline that will deliver water from Fountain Valley wells to Newport Beach. The water line project, which will be outlined at a 7 p.m. meeting at the Fountain Valley City Hall, is part of Newport Beach's $20-million Groundwater Development plan to bring the coastal city 4 billion gallons of water a year from Fountain Valley. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-January.

About 1,300 Amtrak and Metrolink passengers experienced delays of up to three hours Friday after a water line broke at a construction site in San Juan Capistrano and caused a retaining wall to crumble onto the tracks. "The trains are running at restricted speeds, but we're running trains," Metrolink spokeswoman Sharon Gavin said about 7 p.m. after workers managed to clear one of two tracks that had been buried under a foot of earth, rocks and debris. The water line burst about 4 p.m.