On Fri, 01 Aug 2014 08:13:43 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 07/31/2014 9:14 AM, Leon wrote:
On 7/31/2014 8:10 AM, dpb wrote:
On 07/30/2014 10:31 PM, Leon wrote:
...

Speaking of rain, looks like L.A. solved it's water shortage, ...

Saw the footage. Didn't say, but that was a sizable main...
...

Very large and very old, it leaked 5% of the daily water usage for L.A.

Finally saw an article last night that actually had some (hopefully
reasonably accurate) facts other than the "golly, gee! look at the
water!" kind of reporting. It was/is "only" a 30" main and 90 yo --
both slightly beyond moderate in the scale of things...said there is
about 200 mi of 60 yo and older distribution line in LA. Surprised
isn't more than that altho LA is pretty new for the most part.

NY in January had a 36" line break in Greenwich Village. That main was
put in in 1877. Much of the main feed system dates to roughly the same
time or even earlier and are as large as 14-ft diam. I think the oldest
aqueduct, the New Croton finished around 1890, is largely now replaced
altho still operational.

Not so much a replacement for as an additional. The idea was to have
excess capacity so each of the aqueducts could be brought down for
inspection and repair. After a century, it's a really good plan.

The aqueduct system into NYC is really amazing. They start in the
Catskills, which are on the other side of the Hudson River from NYC,
so must cross (under) the river. IIRC, they're on the order of 30' in
diameter (cue the Die Hard reruns).