Cracked Water Main Drowns Dance

A 6 inch domestic water main near the CPAC cracked, causing campus to lose water access on Friday, August 28.

Due to a California Education Code stating that water may only be out of service for 2 hours while events are held on campus, all weekend events, including the Welcome Back Dance, were cancelled.

Maintenance director Dave Humphrey was uncertain as to the exact cause of the crack, but said it was likely due to the August 17 earthquake. Only Campolindo lost access to water; surrounding homeowners were not affected.

District maintenance staff began fixing the issue at 1:45 on Friday afternoon. The issue was fixed by the afternoon of Sunday, August 30, and school resumed as usual on Monday, August 31.

“We began excavating on Friday the 28. Saturday midday the excavation was completed and repairs began. Sunday repairs to the pipe were completed, water was turned on very slowly, the water lines were purged and by Sunday afternoon the water lines were fully charged and the system was ready for use,” Humphrey explained.

He added, “The existing pipe was cut in two locations. A new length of pipe was cut and put in place. One compression fitting on each side of the new pipe was installed, then the bolts were torqued to specifications.”

The total cost of repairs was “approximately $10,000,” according to Humphrey.

The issue was actually discovered earlier than Friday, however. “On Wednesday the 26th it was noted that the ground was moist,” said Humphrey. “At that time we were uncertain the cause of the moisture.”

According to administrative assistant Carolyn Daughton, a football pizza night, choir teacher Mark Roberts’ choir movie night, instrumental music teacher Johnny Johnson’s picnic for the music boosters, and a Moraga Swim Ranch event in the CPAC were cancelled in addition to the Welcome Back Dance.

Football coach Kevin Macy said that the cancellation “was no big deal” for the team, as they simply moved their event’s location. “Typically we do a pizza night after every game at the home of one of the parents, but the plan for last week was to have it in the P.E. classroom, only to give the kids a chance to catch the tail end of the school dance,” Macy said. “Once the dance was cancelled, we just changed our pizza plan.”

“These things happen,” Daughton said. “They’re unpredictable.”