LAGUNA BEACH : Sewer Leak Keeps Pier Area Closed

Aliso Beach remained closed indefinitely while workers for the Aliso Water Management Agency renewed efforts today to repair a leaky sewer outfall pipe near the Aliso Pier.

The leak, about 100 feet from shore in about 10 feet of water, is discharging about 100,000 gallons of treated sewage each day, said Lisa Hogan, assistant general manager of the agency, an affiliation of seven water and sewer districts.

Under normal conditions, 18 million gallons of the treated sewage are discharged each day about 1 1/2 miles offshore, Hogan said.

Workers planned today to stop all flow into the pipes from sewer plants upstream.

They will cut a hole in the pipe and insert a television camera in the section that is below a parking lot on the inland side of Coast Highway. The camera will allow engineers to inspect the damage and the nature of the leak and estimate the time and cost of the repair, Hogan said.

The cause and exact time of the leak remain a mystery, Hogan said.

The leak was discovered Feb. 26 when a clear circle began to appear on the surface of the water above the section of offshore pipe.

“We think it is related to the Feb. 12 storm, but we are uncertain of that at this point,” Hogan said.

“The ocean was very muddy and brown after the storm brought a lot of silt downstream. That’s when our effluent appeared as a clear circle above the pipe, and we suspected we had a leak. A dye test confirmed it.”

Before the storm, the 13-year-old pipe had just been completely surveyed and was determined to be in working order, Hogan said, so the leak came as a surprise.