Tap water consumption in Tokyo's 23 wards fluctuated dramatically when Japan's World Cup match against Colombia was held in Russia on Tuesday night.
A sharp increase was seen during halftime and again after the match, an indication of the close attention paid to Japan's opening game in the tournament's group stage.
According to data on tap water use released by the Tokyo metropolitan government, the amount sharply decreased immediately after the start of the match. But it increased by 24 percent in the seven minutes from 9:47 p.m., when the first half ended, greatly exceeding the average consumption for that time of day. This was the peak of consumption during the match.
The amount decreased again from immediately before the start of the second half, and it stood nearly 30 percent lower than the average at the end of the game, in which Japan defeated Colombia. However, after that, the amount jumped by nearly 50 percent all of a sudden.
This was apparently because many people used bathrooms and other water equipment at halftime and after the game.
As a similar phenomenon takes place during other international sporting events, including the Olympics, the Tokyo metropolitan government's waterworks bureau said it takes such measures as adjusting water pressure to avoid a situation in which water does not flow smoothly from taps due to the fluctuations.
A bureau official in charge said, "We'll be prepared not to cause inconvenience also during Japan's next matches, including the one against Senegal."
The bureau's website shows graphs of tap water consumption during the game against Colombia and also for past World Cup events.
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