A series of water main breaks across Los Angeles in recent days is raising concerns about the city’s aging infrastructure and whether more failures could occur.
Crews continued working to repair the massive trunk line that ruptured Thursday in West Hollywood, leaving behind a large sinkhole on Sunset Boulevard. The break is the latest in a string of water main failures that have flooded streets, damaged homes and businesses, closed roadways and disrupted water service.
In Studio City, an 8-inch water main failed, flooding a street and temporarily leaving about 60 customers without water while crews completed repairs.
In Hollywood, another 8-inch water main ruptured, sending water into the street and shutting off service to about 70 customers as crews worked to restore water.
The most significant break occurred in West Hollywood, where a 110-year-old, 36-inch trunk line burst, releasing an estimated 17 million gallons of water onto streets and nearby properties.
West Hollywood and Los Angeles officials provided an update on water main repairs in West Hollywood. Annette Arreola reports for NBC4 at 5 p.m. on July 18, 2026.
“This is a 110-year-old pipe that we have not been able to update and infrastructure is badly needed. New infrastructure is badly needed here in the city of Los Angeles,” Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman said.
Mayor Karen Bass said the recent failures underscore the challenges posed by the city’s aging infrastructure.
“This is one of the challenges when our infrastructure is so old. It’s my understanding that these pipes are over a hundred years old,” Bass said.
According to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, about 30% of the city’s water main lines are more than 80 years old, adding to concerns about the condition of the system.
Joseph Reichenberger, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Loyola Marymount University, said inspecting aging water lines presents significant challenges because the pipes are buried underground and surrounded by other critical utilities.
“In order to even inspect it, you’d have to dig it up and then you’re only going to see the outside,” Reichenberger said. “But to look at the inside, you need to put a TV camera down or something else. You can’t do that with a water line that’s flowing full.”
He said the complexity of underground infrastructure also increases the risk of damaging nearby utilities during inspections or repairs.
“So, you know, just getting in there, there’s always a risk of damaging some other structure,” Reichenberger said. “So, yeah, those are the real problems.”
LADWP said it is working to modernize the city’s water infrastructure as part of its $8 billion, five-year Water System Capital Plan. The project includes replacing 240,000 feet of water main pipe and 6,047 feet of trunk line pipe.
The utility said it is prioritizing replacement of high-risk pipelines, including about 6% of its water main lines and 1% of its trunk lines, based on factors that include the age of the pipe.