Your Source for NPR News & Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

World Cup Host City Jokes That To Save Water, People Should Shower In Pairs

Children play in the fountains near the Monument of Glory statue in Samara, Russia. The city's utility company is urging residents to conserve water during the World Cup.
Stuart Franklin
/
FIFA via Getty Images
Children play in the fountains near the Monument of Glory statue in Samara, Russia. The city's utility company is urging residents to conserve water during the World Cup.

Updated at 2 p.m. ET Friday

One of the upsides to hosting the World Cup is the hordes of international tourists and their bulging wallets that will inevitably descend. One of the downsides is the logistics of accommodating those tourists and their corporeal needs, including bathing.

At least, that's one of the adjustments the Russian city of Samara is trying to make.

On Wednesday, the public utility company explained it has recently ramped up the water supply by 10 percent as a result of the recent rush of fans and an ongoing heatwave, according to The Associated Press.

"Thousands of visitors to the city, also consuming water, contribute to the increase in water," Samara Communal Systems wrotein a press release.

In an effort to provide a constructive solution, the company encouraged residents to forgo solo cleanup sessions in favor of couple-showering to save water by taking showers in pairs, adding a cheeky smiley face to the end of the message.

"Save the water - take a shower together :) ," the statement read.

Since then, the utility company has issued a second statement, clarifying that the suggestion was intended as a joke and that the city is not suffering from a water shortage:

"Water supply and water disposal of Samara is carried out in a regular mode. All equipment 'RKS-Samara' works without interruptions and stably copes with the load. The message was to draw attention to responsible water consumption and the economical use of drinking water."

Both press releases were issued just in time for another wave of World Cup fans, who are expected to flood the city on Saturday when England faces Sweden in the quarterfinals.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Vanessa Romo is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers breaking news on a wide range of topics, weighing in daily on everything from immigration and the treatment of migrant children, to a war-crimes trial where a witness claimed he was the actual killer, to an alleged sex cult. She has also covered the occasional cat-clinging-to-the-hood-of-a-car story.
Related Stories