A ruptured water pipe beside Cal Poly’s Student Services Center on Tuesday afternoon left several campus buildings without running water for about 48 hours, disrupting labs, student services and part of the stadium. Facilities crews worked through the following two days to isolate and repair the break; water service was returned late Thursday afternoon.
Cal Poly’s Facilities and Management Development identified the affected locations and said crews shut off supply to complete repairs. According to spokesperson Neville Morton, the outage was limited to a defined cluster of campus buildings while technicians worked on the damaged line.
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- Building 26 — Graphic Arts
- Building 26A — Printing Press
- Building 115 — Chase Hall
- Building 116 — Jespersen Hall
- Building 117 — Heron Hall
- Building 124 — Student Services Center
- Building 186 — Construction Innovations Center
- Building 187 — Materials Demonstration Lab
- Building 61K — Spanos Stadium (east end)
The break sent a strong spray of water across the Student Services patio, pooling near a bike rack. Video and on-site reporting showed an electric scooter and at least one e-bike chained at the rack; one student was photographed trying to free her soaked bike as crews worked nearby.
Maintenance teams moved quickly to channel and remove water from the patio. By mid‑afternoon on Tuesday, workers were shoveling runoff and had built a makeshift mud barrier to keep water from spreading into adjacent walkways and doors.
Repair work continued into Thursday; Cal Poly confirmed that the pipe was fixed and normal service was restored by roughly 5:00 p.m. that day. Facilities did not report injuries, and there were no immediate indications of structural damage beyond the localized flooding.
The outage briefly affected campus operations where running water is essential — from print shop equipment and building restrooms to laboratory functions and stadium support at the east end. While service was restored quickly, the incident underscores the operational impact that a single pipe failure can have on a compact campus environment.
What happened next
- Immediate shutdown of the water supply to the listed buildings while crews assessed and repaired the main line.
- Temporary interruption to labs, student services and some athletics-support areas during the outage.
- Localized property damage (soaked bikes and a scooter) and surface mud on the Student Services patio.
- Full restoration of water to affected buildings by Thursday evening.
Campus leaders and facilities staff said they will review the incident as part of routine infrastructure oversight. The quick response limited the outage to about two days, but the episode highlights how aging or vulnerable utility lines can ripple through daily campus life.
Photo credit: Seth Pintar / Mustang News
