A stampede of toilet breaks during the halftime break of Japan’s World Cup match against Colombia last week reportedly caused water shortages across Tokyo, the city’s waterworks bureau revealed.
The match, which featured the local team’s historic win over the South American club, caused millions of people in the Japanese capital to rush to the bathroom at the same time during halftime.
Tokyo waterworks bureau revealed on Friday that during the break, the city’s water use jumped by 24%, which almost led to catastrophic consequences.
Millions of sports fans made another dash for the toilet after the match, fresh from a winning goal by Japanese footballer Yuya Osako.
The post-game toilet rush caused another spike of 50% in water use, according to a waterworks official.
“We presume it’s because a lot of people holding off on a trip to the bathroom all went at once,” the official told the AFP.
“Water use can fluctuate, especially during football matches, which only have one break in the middle,” she explained.“It also can be affected by a period of time, excitement and other factors. We are ready to prepare for a stable water supply during the next match on Sunday.”
Tokyo’s waterworks officials say they will be preparing for the expected increase in the water demand for future matches.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Chris 73 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
