The water began bubbling up from below the asphalt at 4:30 a.m. and flowed for about an hour until crews could shut it off.
"Right now, the 2600 block of Mason and the zero to 100 block of Jefferson, just the one block next to the leak,[are affected]," said SFPUC Spokesperson Alison Kastama.
Within that block is a Radisson Hotel. "[There are] no showers, no bathroom, no toilet. Kind of hard to brush your teeth," said Alan Bailey from Iowa.
"It means more for the girls than it does for me; us guys we don't need to do our hair," said Bret Holland from Tucson.
The water main that's caused so much trouble is an old one; it was put in place more than 100 years ago. "Back in the day, all the cast iron was put together with lead joints, so that's a rigid joint. Now, today they are put together with rubber joints," said SFPUC Utilities Supervisor Dennis McCarthy.
And, the pipes themselves are made of a more resilient iron. Like the patrons at the Radisson, they are resilient and resourceful.
"I just went to the store around the corner, got some water and I brought it back up stairs, so we used bottled water, at least the girls did, to wash their hair and faces," said Holland.
Crews expect repairs should be done and the water should be back by 2 or 3 p.m.
