Venice Hydrant Geyser Spews 180,000 Gallons Of Water For Hours
VENICE (CBSLA.com) — Crews worked early Monday to seal a broken water hydrant in Venice, but not before an estimated 180,000 gallons flooded nearby streets, officials said.
KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou reports fire units had to call for backup after a vehicle struck a hydrant at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Marr Street west of Abbot Kinney just before 9 p.m. Sunday night, sending a geyser of water shooting high in the air.
What Drought? Venice Hydrant Geyser Spews 180,000 Gallons Of Water For Hours
A fire crew from Los Angeles Fire Station No. 63 along with the Department of Water and Power tried for 90 minutes to shut down the geyser, according to LAFD spokesman Peter Sanders.
"Our Fire Department units tried about five different valves, were unable to shut this off, and the geyser kept going for a number of hours," said Sanders. "
Crews later discovered both the hydrant and the pipe are owned by Los Angeles County, Sanders added.
A county Public Works crew was called in and found the street turn-off valve was covered by asphalt. They then went to two separate lines - which were located 200 yards away and 12 feet underground - to finally shut off the hydrant.
Officials estimate the seven-and-a-half hour incident lost about the same amount of water used by a family of four over an average nine-month period, Demetriou reported.
The broken hydrant was located just a few blocks from a water main break near the Venice canals last week, which left 25 houses flooded.
