Roughly 300 homes in the Hollywood Hills went without running water this week after a water main broke on Wonderland Avenue, and just as crews were wrapping up repairs, a second leak sprang up a few feet away from the first. By 2 p.m. Friday, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had fully restored service to every affected customer, closing out a saga that started with water and mud cascading down hillside streets near Wonderland Avenue Elementary School.
The trouble began around 1 p.m. Thursday when a 12-inch cast-iron water main failed on Wonderland Avenue west of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, according to MyNewsLA.com. The break did not cause major damage, but it sent water flowing down the 8500 block of Wonderland Avenue, according to Beverly Press & Park Labrea News. LADOT closed Wonderland Avenue to traffic between North Vado Drive and North Laurel Pass Avenue while crews worked, directing local residents around the site, though the nearby elementary school stayed open and suffered no structural damage.
DWP crews initially got the leak under control and restored water service to the area around 2:30 a.m. Friday, per the same account from MyNewsLA.com. But the relief was short-lived: crews discovered a second leak just a few feet from the original break around 4 a.m., according to LADWP News. That second failure knocked service back out for the same roughly 300 customers who had just gotten their taps back.
Full Restoration and What Residents Should Do Now
LADWP announced Friday that it had completed repairs and restored water to all affected Hollywood Hills customers by 2 p.m., the utility said. Residents are being advised to run their faucets and showers for five to ten minutes before returning to normal use, a step meant to clear trapped air and sediment from the lines. Some affected customers received bottled water deliveries while service was out.
Anyone with concerns about water quality can call LADWP's Water Quality Hotline at (213) 367-3182, or reach the utility's 24-hour line at 1-800-DIAL-DWP to report leaks or file property damage claims tied to the break.
Why This Pipe Wasn't Already Scheduled for Replacement
The pipe at the center of the trouble was installed in 1959 and had experienced only two other leaks over the past 21 years, according to LADWP. That track record meant it hadn't been flagged for replacement, since the utility factors leak frequency and soil conditions into its scheduling decisions. But the back-to-back failures within hours of each other changed that calculus: LADWP now says it will evaluate the affected pipe and set a timeline for replacement, per the utility's own account of the incident.
The Wonderland Avenue break is the latest in a run of central Los Angeles water main failures this summer. It follows ruptures on Romaine Street in Hollywood, which Hoodline covered in a splash zone near Paramount, as well as breaks in Echo Park and Beverly Grove, according to Beverly Press & Park Labrea News. Three weeks earlier, a 110-year-old, 36-inch trunk line ruptured under Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, spilling an estimated 17 million gallons of water and forcing multi-day street closures, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. LADWP has noted that Sunset Boulevard carries a major transmission line, while Wonderland Avenue is a smaller, localized distribution pipe.
An Aging System Under Growing Strain
LADWP's network sees between two and four pipe breaks daily across Los Angeles, but the utility says its overall leak rate ran 36% below the national industry average of 25 leaks per 100 miles during fiscal year 2024-2025, according to LADWP News. Still, more than 30% of the utility's 6,794 miles of distribution mainlines are over 80 years old, approaching or exceeding the roughly 100-year design life of cast-iron pipe, per LADWP's own infrastructure data.
Hillside neighborhoods like Laurel Canyon face particular strain because LADWP's system relies on 102 distinct pressure zones and 90 booster pumping stations to move water uphill, according to the Los Angeles City Planning Department. Those pressure fluctuations add mechanical stress to older pipes over time. Under its 2025-2026 Water Infrastructure Plan, LADWP has allocated $803.8 million toward replacing aging infrastructure for the coming fiscal year, with a goal of replacing up to 240,000 feet of distribution mainlines annually as it works to transition pipes toward a 150-year life cycle.
