GOLDEN, Colorado (AP) -- It's not something you hear often in the arid West: Use more water.

"We want people to bathe a lot -- two to three baths a day," joked City Manager Mike Bestor.

Like other towns across the country, Golden filled its water storage tanks on New Year's Eve as a precaution against a multi-day power outage. Such an outage would have left the city without electricity to operate pumps that pour water into the tanks.

But Golden pushed bravely on into 2000 without incident. And now, the city has about 2 million more gallons of water on hand than normal.

If the additional water does not get used, it will lose a required trace amount of chlorine that prevents bacteria contamination, said Dan Hartman, Golden's public works director.

He expects the level to return to normal by Saturday.

"As long as people really try to stay clean, we'll be fine," Hartman said.

Meanwhile in nearby Denver, the city's airport is selling flashlights it had ordered for passengers in case of New Year's Eve power outages.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

-- All wet (Splish@splash.com), January 07, 2000

Answers

This would be the perfect opportunity to make the world's largest Jello mold.

Wouldn't you know they'd have a surplus of water right at the time when it's too cold to wash your car. Well, I guess it's better than those random surplusses of electricity they seem to be having in Conecticut earlier this week.

-- Innovate (see@it.wiggle), January 07, 2000.

Jello wrestling! KOS what do you think?

-- PA Engineer (PA Engineer@longtimelurker.com), January 07, 2000.

Since this in Golden Colorado, I was really hoping they could sell the water REAL cheap to Coors. However, this could substantially effect the beer market which means that they will have an unfair advantage over the competition being able to sell Coors at a drastically lower price than the competition. Then, other brewers sue Coors, then Coors sues the city for selling them the cheap water and then the City sues the state and the state sues the EPA and so on. With the advent of cheap beer, everyone stays home with a hangover and just keeps buying more. Work grinds to a hault as we all stop to watch the great beer trials. Society starts to crumble, food (and beer) start to be rationed.... This could be the beginning of the end!!!The collapse of society as we know it brought about by a water surplus!

-- DAVID (tdavidc@arn.net), January 07, 2000.

Coors gets ALL of its "Pure Rocky Mountain Spring Water" from old reclaimed sand and gravels pits. The water is dirty and disgusting. I know, my company worked around these so called "Pure Rocky Mountain Spring Water" filled gravel pits. That is why I quit drinking Coors

-- (Bobo@Bobo.com), January 07, 2000.

Innovate: LOL!!! If they have so much excess water, ship it to California!!! We're having a dry dry winter...

-- Newbie (newcomer@this.site), January 07, 2000.

Some of us quit drinking Coors when we discovered beer.

-- jumpoff joe a.k.a. Al K. Lloyd (jumpoff@ekoweb.net), January 07, 2000.

Some of us quit drinking Coors when we discovered BEER.

-- jumpoff joe a.k.a. Al K. Lloyd (jumpoff@ekoweb.net), January 07, 2000.

Some of us quit drinking Coors when we tasted it.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.com), January 08, 2000.