Navy wants landlords to provide bottled water

[unhappycamper]

Navy wants landlords to provide bottled water
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, November 20, 2008

NAPLES, Italy — Navy officials will begin renegotiating leases in the coming weeks on nearly 2,000 local homes rented to Americans to require landlords to supply bottled water to tenants.

"(Naval Support Activity) Naples is transitioning from distribution of bottled water to a system in which landlords provide containerized water as a requirement of the lease, and at no additional cost to the tenant," Lt. Cmdr. Wendy Snyder, a spokeswoman for Navy Region Europe, said in an e-mail response to questions.

The base housing office manages leases for roughly 1,700 properties in the Naples region.

The Navy began distributing free water to off-base residents on Sept. 22 after getting permission to spend roughly $144,000 on bottled water. Traces of bacteria had turned up in tap-water samples, prompting officials to recommend that all personnel who live off base use bottled water for drinking, cooking and brushing their teeth.

The measure was intended to be a short-term plan until officials could find a long-term solution, officials have said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58936