SAITAMA, Feb 13 (News On Japan) - A towering column of water reaching about 15 meters erupted in a residential area of Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, on February 12th after a valve loosened during water pipe repair work, flooding nearby streets and startling residents.
The water gushed from a manhole in a quiet neighborhood, shooting upward with a roaring sound and rising higher than nearby utility poles and rooftops. The incident occurred at around 11 a.m., causing a commotion in the surrounding residential district.
Roads in the area quickly became flooded, and large amounts of water poured onto a black car parked nearby. Firefighters and other personnel were seen using tools to try to move the vehicle out of the way as the water continued to surge.
Residents described the scene as unprecedented. One local said, "It was scary. I couldn't believe it. The whole width of the street was covered, and I heard from officials the water was about 15 meters high. I've lived 79 years and never seen anything like it." Another resident said, "Spray was flying everywhere. It reached all the way over here. I wondered if the water would stop or just keep gushing out."
No injuries were reported, but some homes were hit by the spray and suffered minor damage. The leak was brought under control about two and a half hours later.
According to workers at the site, they had been attempting to replace a large box-shaped unit above ground when they tried to remove an old repair valve located beneath it, which is normally used to shut off water flow. For reasons still under investigation, the valve did not fully stop the water, allowing it to burst out.
A worker explained that the pipe was already under pressure and that if even a small gap opened, water could shoot up more than 10 meters in facilities of that type.
Meanwhile, in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, a separate water pipe rupture caused significant leakage, with cold temperatures believed to be the cause. At one point, up to 5,000 households experienced water outages. Although the number of affected households had been reduced to 1,980 by February 11th, new pipe damage was discovered at two reservoirs supplying the city center, prompting authorities to announce that outages had expanded again to about 4,980 households.
A resident in Ito whose home was affected said they initially did not realize a pipe had burst, but later found damage on the pipe after touching it.
City officials in Ito are urging residents to conserve water and report any leaks they discover.
Source: FNN
