The earthquake that hit central Japan's Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day left much of the affected areas without water supplies. Restoring tap water to more than 30,000 households and businesses remains a key challenge in the recovery.

Most of the city of Suzu is still without water.
Workers from across the country have gathered to help repair efforts. They have been setting up temporary water pipes in places where the quake damaged the original underground infrastructure.

Their current focus is putting a makeshift pipe in place to bring water from a purification plant to a distribution reservoir. The work is scheduled to be completed later this month.
Workers will then turn on the water to hospitals, shelters and households and check the damage to the original pipes.

But first they need to shut off the main valve in each building, to prevent leaks. This task is not easy as many structures collapsed and residents evacuated.

Neighboring Wajima City is also almost entirely without tap water. Restoration work is underway.
A community of about 10 households in Wajima had been using spring water in their daily lives.
But the quake immediately cut off their supplies.

The residents managed the facility, so they are now responsible for repairing it. Most residents are now staying in other places. Kawabata Haruo says it would be difficult for him to dig up the pipes by himself to find which parts were damaged. He says he can't do laundry or take a bath. He is worried other residents may not come back if the water supply is not restored.
About 1,000 people, or 4 percent of Wajima's population, had been living in 47 similar communities, managing their own water facilities.