Sasebo calls off plans for significant water rationing

Sasebo calls off plans for significant water rationing
By Travis J. Tritten and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, December 12, 2007

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Water rationing will be postponed at least until next month, meaning base and city taps will continue to flow through the holidays, the U.S. Navy and Sasebo city officials said Monday.

The city government feared cutting water could sour Christmas and New Year’s celebrations and hurt the local economy, the Sasebo Waterworks Bureau said.

Meanwhile, some rainfall and water-conservation efforts in recent weeks inched up the water supply and made it possible to suspend the rationing plans, according to the bureau.

The Navy will “mirror” the city and begin rationing water when and if Sasebo officials decide it is necessary, base spokesman Charles Howard said Monday.

Also, the base, which is Sasebo’s largest single consumer of water, will begin purifying seawater this week to reduce its reliance on the city’s supply.


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