A JAPANESE school has been hit with a US$27,000 (RM116,000) water bill after a teacher in charge of pool maintenance left a tap on for months hoping to stop coronavirus infections.

The teacher, who has not been identified, thought a constant flow of fresh water into the pool will keep it Covid-19 free and left the tap on from late June to early September.

Normally, chlorine and filtering machines maintain the water’s quality, “but the teacher somehow got the wrong idea that pouring new water in will also do the trick and even help prevent Covid-19”, said local education board official Akira Kojiri.

Other staff members have noticed the running tap and switched it off, but the offending colleague soon switched it back on.

As a result, Kojiri said, an estimated 4,000 tonnes of excess water was used in just over two months – enough to fill the pool 11 times over.

Yokosuka authorities are demanding the teacher and two supervisors to foot half of the bill.

“We deeply apologise to our residents for causing (financial) damage to our city,” said the authorities in a statement. – AFP, April 22, 2022.