An aging pipeline burst in Daly City early Tuesday morning, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of water and mud onto nearby streets and a park.

Though no homes were damaged, 12 residences on Lausanne Avenue and Clayton Court were evacuated while crews tried to clean up the muddy mess. In total, five blocks — on Bonnie, East Moltke, Ford and Price streets and Clayton Court — were hit by the mud.

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Crews finished cleanup work by early evening, in time for residents returning home from work, said Director Patrick Sweetland of the Daly City Water and Wastewater Resources Department.

The 8-inch water main pipeline burst about 4:25 a.m. Roughly 45,000 gallons of water gushed out of the hillside on Lausanne Avenue, mixing with dirt to form a sludgy stream. It took about 30 minutes to shut off the flow.

The water main, installed in the 1930s, is located just below the city’s reservoir. The portion that broke was below the reservoir, but above an isolation valve.

City Manager Pat Martel said no homes were damaged in the mudslide, but cars parked on the street were surrounded by knee-deep mud.

Hillside Park also was covered in mud. According to a water department employee at the scene, some portions of the park were buried up to 9 feet deep.

Resident Dave Whitaker said he awoke about 5:30 a.m. to the commotion of the cleanup effort. As a native of the area, he said he often played on the hillside when he was younger.

Clayton Court resident Eric Reyes, 36, said he woke up to the muddy mess at 6:30 a.m. Reyes said he was unable to get himself to work and his son to school because his car was stuck.

Trucks with front-end loaders consolidated the mud into a pile that was hauled away, bit by bit, in dump trucks. Sweetland said the trucks dumped the mud at Brisbane Recycling Co. and an open city lot off Geneva Avenue.
Sweetland said crews will clean the park ahead of the anticipated rainstorms this week.

akoskey@sfexaminer.com

Bay City News contributed to this report.