By Lindsey Lam, February 24, 2026
Cal Poly Pomona Residential Suite residents will not have reliable access to hot water in their dorms until further notice, according to an email from University Housing Services.
Residents first noticed the disrupted hot water Feb. 8, prompting building-wide work orders to address the issue. While there was still partially hot water through Tuesday, there was no hot water left by Wednesday morning, according to a Reddit post in the CPP subreddit.
UHS sent an email to all Residential Suite residents Feb. 11 explaining an underground pipe leak in Parking Lot Q will cause residents to face intermittent hot water services until further notice, three days after the first signs of a hot water outage.
This hot water outage came before the California Faculty Association Teamsters Local 2010 strike from Feb. 17 to 20, which represents skilled trades workers such as plumbers, facilities workers and other skilled trades workers.
UHS sent an email out Feb. 17 addressing the Teamsters’ strike and acknowledged routine and non-urgent work orders may take longer than usual. It is unknown if the strike impacted the university’s attempts to fix the burst pipe.
The hot water outage also occurred during the first February winter storm, driving temperatures down to less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night, and continued through the second winter storm the following week. With an unknown amount of time needed to fix the pipe, students may be without stable access to hot water for future weather events.
UHS revealed contractors were installing temporary back-up water boilers to relieve the problem and ordering permanent ones to prevent the outage from happening again, according to an email sent out Feb. 18.
According to Jon Merchant, executive director of Housing Administration, “Back-up hot water boilers were installed on the morning of Feb. 18, and will remain in place until the permanent boilers arrive and can be installed. There have been no further hot water disruptions since the back-up boilers were installed.”
In attempts to regain hot water service, the Vista de las Estrellas dorms’ hot water was shut from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 14 amidst repairs, according to a UHS email.
Criminology student and Estrellas resident Makenzie Sigman was sick at the time of the hot water shut off in her dorm building. While the hot water outage does not impact her ability to go to class or work, it prolongs her ailment, especially during the cold weather.
Along with intermittent access to hot water, Estrellas’ residents face a broken elevator that is awaiting new parts, according to Sigman.
“It’s just frustrating that we pay so much money to live here, and you would expect things to work or to be fixed in a timely manner, to have communication with your tenants about when things are going to get fixed and stuff like that,” Sigman said.
Another resident from Estrellas, who wished to remain anonymous in fear of the administration’s backlash, began resorting to boiling hot water and using a bucket to shower. The resident plans to use the method until the underground pipe is fixed. Yet, the Estrellas resident has little faith in the hot water access being restored in a timely manner, after having no access to their suite balcony for the entire 2025-2026 academic year.
“We were supposed to get access to our balconies a long time ago, and now those are closed until further notice,” The Estrellas resident said. “The water being broken until further notice is another frustration that we have to go through, considering how much we pay.”
A Vista de la Montanas resident, who also wished to remain anonymous in fear of losing her campus job, has been showering late at night hoping to catch a flush of hot water when no one else is showering, and often when outside temperatures are coldest. Yet, with intermittent access, the presence of hot water is hard to predict.
“It impacts my whole schedule because I’m a full-time student and work on campus,” the Montanas resident said. “And if it’s cold, I can’t shower late at night because I won’t be able to sleep. I can’t shower in the morning because it leaves me freezing the whole day. But I can’t just sit and wait for the hot water.”
The Montanas resident noted the UHS website did not allow them to submit a work order about the lack of hot water Wednesday, possibly due to the influx of work orders to regain hot water.
All interviewed residents also reported past incidents with their respective suites, citing broken outlets, mold in their vents and jammed sliding doors. All interviewed residents could not access their suite balcony for varying lengths of time since spring 2025 due to the balcony railings being deemed faulty.
UHS did not respond to The Poly Post’s request for comments.
Feature image courtesy of Lindsey Lam
