  We present Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the water maser emission
towards IRAS 16552-3050. The maser emission shows a velocity spread of ~170
km/s, and a bipolar distribution with a separation between the red and
blueshifted groups of ~0.08". These observations and the likely post-AGB nature
of the source indicate that IRAS 16552-3050 can be considered as a member of
the "water fountain" class of sources (evolved stars showing H2O maser emission
with a velocity spread $\ga$ 100 km/s, probably tracing collimated jets). The
water maser emission in IRAS 16552-3050 does not seem to be associated with
with any known optical counterpart. Moreover, this source does not have a
near-IR 2MASS counterpart, as it happens in about half of the water fountains
known. This suggests that these sources tend to be heavily obscured objects,
probably with massive precursors ($\ga 4-5$ M$_\odot$). We suggest that the
water maser emission in IRAS 16552-3050 could be tracing a rapidly precessing
bipolar jet.
