Another Massive Main Water Disaster Near Stern Grove, the Second One in Three Years

Another mountainous gusher of water was spewing sky-high near Stern Grove Friday morning, and while the water burst has been stopped, Parkside residents may be faced with unusually low water pressure.

The Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove, better known as Stern Grove, seemingly can’t catch a break. The annual Stern Grove concert series was brought to an early halt in August 2021, when a gigantic water main break shut down the park’s concert venue area. Then about a year ago, a tree fell on the park's Trocadero Clubhouse, with repairs to the clubhouse still in progress. And now on Friday morning, KTVU reports that another water main burst next to Stern Grove and spewed a large geyser of water for about two hours.

The water main burst was at 30th Avenue and Wawona Street, and was reported at about 9:30 am Friday morning. According to KPIX, SF Fire Department and SF Public Utilities personnel were able to turn off the gusher by 11:25 am.

This didn't happen within the Stern Grove park, but was about 50 feet away from it. The park's music venue was not affected, so this should not delay this summer’s concert series. But obviously the residents of that house next door had to be worried, as the geyser was shooting higher than the height of the adjacent house.

"Initially, I walk out to my side yard and I heard a crack and a boom, loud noise," neighbor Andrew Trinh told KPIX while the geyser was still gushing. "I just don't know how much the soil will get eroded from the water washing down the hill. We may lose the street if they don't shut it down soon."

The SF Public Utilities Commission noted in the above tweet that “Customers in the surrounding area may experience low or no water pressure,” and that “Repairs may take some time because of the size of the pipe.” The commission did correct the address of the incident in a later tweet.

Related: Last Concert of Stern Grove Season Canceled After Water Main Break [SFist]

Image: @superfrce via Twitter