SAN DIEGO -- A water main ruptured early Thursday morning and flooded several homes in a North Park neighborhood, and several residents told 10News they have seen main breaks and flooding many times in the past in this same area.

The sound of rushing water woke neighbors Thursday morning in the 2800 block of Boundary Street. Darren Royster's tenant was in a downstairs unit when the water came in through the ceiling.

"The water started coming down on his face while he was asleep, so he got out and got all his stuff out," said Royster.

Royster said he has been through this before. He owns two houses on Boundary Street, and both have been damaged during several water main breaks over the last few years.

In 2007, Royster went through a severe main break that damaged 20 homes in the area. He said he is still trying to settle a claim with the city from the last time a pipe burst in April.

"They just keep putting Band-Aids on the problem. You figure it breaks every two years. Eight water main breaks in give years, tenants displaced; this is crazy," said Royster.

Resident Anthony Forte's pool is filled with mud due to the main break. The dirt had nowhere else to go when the water caused his retaining wall to collapse.

"The water just poured over the retaining wall. It brought a lot of the sand and dug up a trench and stopped right there," said Forte.

A water department spokesman said the process of replacing all the city's old cast-iron pipe with PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is time consuming and expensive. The pipes are simply bursting faster than they can be replaced.

Crews are only fixing the broken pipe, and it is unclear when the city will replace the entire line. That has people who live in the area worried that it will only be a matter of time before they are right back in this same situation.

The water department spokesman also said the city's budget crisis should not affect repairs to San Diego's old pipes, as a three-year rate increase helps cover those costs.