It's been ten days since a broken fire hydrant in the Winnetka neighborhood of the Valley has had water flowing (not spraying) out of it and it may take another week to fix, finds the Daily News. This comes a week after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a tougher stance on water waste, promising more enforcement and rules. "We certainly appreciate the value of the water and the concern that we have to conserve all the water supplied to us," said Martin Adams, DWP director of water operations, to the paper. "The fact of life is, we have an aging infrastructure." more ›

The Los Angeles Fire Department has reported to nearly 100 spraying-into-the-air fire hydrants across the city. And that's just since August 29th--49 days ago. For the most part, they happen in traffic accidents or when people play bumper car with a hydrant, but occasionally on hot days, you'll get kids using them to cool off. The height of the water depends on the size of the main. In commercial areas, the water mains are larger (as seen below) vs. residential areas with smaller ones. more ›

The latest victims in illegal metal scrapping are two fire hydrants in Glendale, according to the Daily News. Now, that's not a very good thing at all if a fire were to happen nearby. "If customers see anyone removing parts -- or the entire fire hydrant -- and they aren't using official city vehicles, we are asking them to call the police department," Peter Kavounas of Glendale Water & Power said to the paper. more ›