Image via Shutterstock.com

Things got a little splashy for reporters covering the House of Representatives today when a urinal in the men’s room off the congressional press gallery burst and sent waves of toilet water into the area where journalists chronicle the goings-on on Capitol Hill.

National Journal reports that something went wrong with a pipe connecting to the urinal, sending water everywhere. As the bathroom floor filled up, the deluge then washed under the bathroom door and onto the press gallery’s carpet:

As the water flowed, it first surrounded the Associated Press’s working area, then spread toward both ends of the gallery, which was occupied by fewer than usual reporters and staffers, because the House is out of session until Tuesday.

Capitol Police officers, gallery staff, and other U.S. Capitol personnel moved to contain the flow. In doing so, they found a use, finally, for the gallery’s stacks of unread newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals, as makeshift sponges and sandbags.

The carpet is being replaced tonight in time for the reconvening of the House tomorrow, National Journal reports. But the press gallery might not be the only spot that got a little damp. Directly below lies the House Speaker’s Gallery, and building staff were determining if anything soaked through the floor.