Collapsed water pipe snarls traffic at EDSA-Santolan

For several hours, a water pipe "leak" flooded a key road near Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) in eastern Metro Manila early Monday morning. The incident, which local residents said occurred at about 4:45 a.m., slowed down early-morning traffic at the corner of EDSA and Connecticut Street in San Juan City. "Ang tingin natin dito nagre-reduce tayo ng di peak hours, ngayon peak demand na, medyo naglakas tayo nag-maximize operation sa San Juan pumping. Baka sa pag-maximize nagkaroon ng pressure surge at nagkaroon ng leak (We usually reduce water supply during non-peak hours. But when we started maximizing pressure when demand peaked, there was a pressure surge and the pipe leaked)," Manila Water spokesman Jeric Sevilla said in an interview on dzBB radio. "Main line ito kaya malakas ang bulwak (This is a main line so there is much water coming out)," he added.

Radio dzBB's Sam Nielsen reported the leak flooded the area near the corner of EDSA and Connecticut Street, slowing down rush-hour traffic along the northbound part of EDSA in the process. At 7:45 a.m., the traffic had extended near the Ortigas Flyover, and affected commuters trying to get a bus ride there, the report added. But a separate report on dzXL radio said the problem had been solved at 9 a.m. Sevilla earlier said they could lessen the water volume passing through their system but could not shut off the entire line as it would affect other areas, including Makati City. "Kung malaki ang leak at kailangan patayin totally ang linya medyo malaking area ang maapektuhan (If the leak were big and we need to shut down the entire line, this may affect a big part of our service area)," he said. Manila Water's service areas include part of Quezon City, Makati, Taguig, Pateros, Marikina, Pasig, San Juan, Mandaluyong, southeast part of Manila, and Rizal province. In the meantime, he said Manila Water has mobilized de-watering tanks to the area. — RSJ, GMANews.TV