OFFICIALS PLAN TO flush out an entire 38-million-gallon reservoir of drinking water after one teenager peed in it, in Oregon.
All the water from a reservoir at Mount Tabor near Portland will be discarded, after a 19-year-old was videotaped taking a whizz in it on Wednesday.
“The basic commandment of the Water Bureau is to provide clean, cold and constant water to its customers,” bureau administrator David Shaff said on Wednesday. “And the premise behind that is we don’t have pee in it.”
The open reservoirs hold water that has already been treated and goes directly into mains for distribution to customers.
Portland Water Bureau spokeswoman Jaymee Cuti said on Thursday that test samples of water taken from the reservoir came back clean.
Shaff knew the urine posed little risk — animals routinely deposit waste without creating a public health crisis — but said the city has plenty of water to meet demand and he didn’t want to serve water that was deliberately tainted.
“There is at least a perceived difference from my perspective,” Shaff said. “I could be wrong on that, but the reality is our customers don’t anticipate drinking water that’s been contaminated by some yahoo who decided to pee into a reservoir.”
A 19-year-old was cited for public urination.
