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38in by a weekly USAF C-141 aircraft or shipped in by the small supplyship, RMS St Helena, calling bi-monthly during her round trip UK%u2013Ascension%u2013St Helena%u2013South Africa and return. Ascension%u2019s limitedresources were to come under increasing pressure.RESOURCESThe number of military personnel that could be absorbed was dictatedby some fairly basic constraints: the limited water supply and thecapacity to feed and provide suitable accommodation for anunpredictable requirement. The most significant of these was theavailability of fresh water.Water. The island has no natural water supply and the two distillationsystems, by-products of the BBC and the USAF base power plants, hadlimited spare capacity. As the number of military personnel increased sothe supply became marginal. The capacity to produce fresh water couldsupport a maximum population of 2800 with reserves for approximately2%u00bd weeks. Allowing for maintenance and the uneven distribution ofwater reserves, numbers on the island soon approached the practical limitof the production capacity. For a while water conservation measureswere imposed and the maintenance of the distillation plants delayed untilproduction was boosted when reverse osmosis plants were flown in andbrought on line. The consequences of a breakdown at either of thedistillation plants were a daily concern; fortunately, both units stayed online throughout Operation CORPORATE.Accommodation. Suitable accommodation was dictated by theavailability of buildings, water supply, sanitation, food and transport.Without evacuating civilians there was sufficient roofed accommodation,all sub-standard, for nearly 700 military. Once all practical buildings hadbeen renovated and the infrastructure improved at various camps, justover 1500 could be accommodated for a short period in overcrowdedconditions, mostly in tents. This %u2018maximum%u2019 could be achieved only byaccepting standards at severe risk to hygiene and fire safety; for example,the sewage system for the tented camp at %u2018English Bay%u2019 was sized for100 but supported 400 and the overcrowding at the %u2018Two Boats%u2019 campresulted in the same problem. In the event, the total of servicemenaccommodated, excluding those in transit, peaked just below the 1500mark. %u2018Bivvying%u2019 was acceptable for many but aircrew, some of whomwere flying sorties of between 14 and 28 hour%u2019s duration, required