You don’t see water gushing out of a broken water main and think a beautiful piece of art, right?

But that’s what Hannah Mitchell saw when she came across an intricate array of icicles in a field in western Wales, the result of a burst pipe sending a 20-foot jet of water into the air in below-freezing temperatures.

“It was amazing. It was spraying up about 20-odd feet into the air. It was pretty spectacular,” Mitchell told Media Wales. “It’s one of those things where you are walking along and you look into the hedge and see this amazing sight.” 

Clearly water main breaks are best avoided and a sign of municipalities’ ongoing battle to care for deteriorating underground infrastructure. Still, take a moment to check out Mitchell’s photos and appreciate water’s ability to take some very visually striking forms occasionally — even if the cause was a broken pipe.