Water Leaks

It's not surprising that with eight arms and inquisitive nature, the two-spotted octopus is pretty handy around its tank at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. Still, those reporting for work Thursday at the popular beachfront attraction were caught by surprise when they were greeted by water lapping around the kelp forest display, the shark and ray tank and the rocky reef exhibit.

An underground steam pipe explosion ripped through a street in Midtown Manhattan during rush hour Wednesday, killing one person from an apparent heart attack and injuring about 30 others. The powerful blast spewed rubble into crowded streets, splashed mud on commuters, and sent a giant plume of murky hot steam billowing into the air. Fears of a terrorist attack rippled across the city as the explosion shook buildings and sent terrified people fleeing down stairways and into the streets.

Question: We had a plumbing repair that our landlord wants us to pay for. I reviewed our lease contract, and it says that the landlord is responsible for maintaining and repairing the water lines. Any insight into this? Answer: Although I can't see into your pipes, I can offer some insight into plumbing issues. Basically, tenants must use plumbing fixtures properly and as intended. If the plumber had to be called out for a problem caused by you or a guest, the tab is on you.

Newlyweds Alan and Maureen Okuye managed to turn wine into water on Thanksgiving -- figuratively speaking, of course. Married just two months, the Sherman Oaks couple were looking forward to celebrating their first big holiday together. They awoke with a houseful of relatives to host, showers to take, a dinner feast to prepare -- only to find that they had no running water.

Several blocks of Colorado Boulevard in the Old Town shopping district were closed Monday afternoon after a water main broke, flooding businesses, authorities said. The cause of the break was not immediately known.

Robert Lee was standing in his frontyard near the intersection of Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Dickens Street in Studio City late Saturday night when he heard a low rumble and saw water at his feet. Then he saw water gushing from a sinkhole. "Maybe 10 to 15 feet in the air, and it was making a beeline for our front door," Lee said, adding that a friend with him was swept off his feet by the rushing water. A rupture in a nearly 100-year-old, 62-inch water trunk line caused flooding several feet deep on some nearby streets, officials said.

Underground water pipes in Los Angeles have suffered significantly more "major blowouts" in the last three months, officials confirmed Tuesday after analyzing dozens of ruptures, some of which flooded streets, damaged vehicles and buildings and created a sinkhole so big that it almost swallowed a firetruck. And the city's engineers don't know why. It could be fluctuating temperatures. It could be a statistical anomaly. It could be something else. "It's strange," said William Robertson, general manager of the Bureau of Street Services, which repaves the ruined roads after the water recedes.

L.A. officials revealed Friday a significant increase in the number of damaging water main breaks so far this month and said they are investigating whether the city's new water rationing system could be a factor in the pipe bursts. The Department of Water and Power, since Sept. 1, has recorded 34 "major blowouts" in L.A.'s water system in which streets have flooded and pavement has buckled -- in some cases damaging homes and businesses. By contrast, the city had only 21 such ruptures in all of September 2008, 17 in September 2007 and 13 in September 2006.

The number of major water main breaks in Los Angeles has more than doubled this month compared with the same period last year, Department of Water and Power officials said Monday. Since Sept. 1, the agency has recorded 43 breaks requiring significant repairs, officials said. There were 21 such breaks in September 2008, 17 in September 2007 and 13 in September 2006. Despite recent dramatic images of major water main breaks, including a 10-foot geyser of water and mud in Studio City and a sinkhole that swallowed half a fire engine in Valley Village, leaks and ruptures are a routine occurrence in the city's aging network of pipes, officials said.

A 3-foot-diameter water main burst in Chicago, spewing thousands of gallons of water that crumbled pavement and turned a major street, Montrose Avenue, into a small lake. Police closed several blocks on the North Side, and the Chicago Transit Authority briefly shut down a nearby train station and rerouted buses.