Broken water main dispensed 30,000 gallons Saturday morning

A broken water main at the intersection of Reche Rd. and Rabbit Hill Rd. in Fallbrook on Saturday, July 9, dispensed 30,000 gallons of water onto roadways and private properties, interrupted service for 19 customers, and caused traffic delays for several hours.

Darren Milner, operations manager for Rainbow Municipal Water District, said Monday an investigation is underway to determine what caused the 12-inch main to break.

Milner said that the break occurred at approximately 7:30 a.m. and water was discharged for an hour.

"We figured 500 gallons a minute for 60 minutes, so that's 30,000 gallons," said Milner.

Milner said 19 customers were without water for six hours while crews worked to fix the problem. Milner added that traffic on Reche Rd. was reduced to one lane for 10 hours.

Besides a lot of inconvenience, the incident didn't cause any destruction, according to Milner.

"No damage," said Milner. "Nothing has been called into customer service."