A 21-year-old man was caught on a security camera urinating into a city reservoir and in response, Oregon’s biggest city is rejecting 8 million gallons of treated drinking water. The man says he immediately felt bad after urinating into the “fountain” but that he thought it was a sewage plant, not a drinking water reservoir. While the AP reports that some in the city and around the world have called this an overreaction, noting that animals such as ducks contribute waste routinely and, sometimes, die in the water, Portland officials have defended the decision, saying they didn’t want to send city residents water laced, however infinitesimally, with urine.
Public health officials say, however, that urine is sterile in healthy people and that the urine in the reservoir was so diluted — perhaps a half pint in millions of gallons — that it posed little risk.
“More than 1 billion people worldwide do not have reliable access to clean drinking water, and here we are tossing away nearly 8 million gallons of water just to appease the ignorant residents who believe their tap water will otherwise turn yellow,” read one comment posted on The Oregonian’s Website.
Water from the city’s five open air reservoirs, all in parks, goes directly to customers. The reservoirs are due to be replaced by underground storage within a decade, a result of federal requirements.
The reservoirs distribute water that flows from glaciers on Mount Hood. It is treated before it goes to the reservoirs for distribution, and then goes directly to consumers.
The reservoirs are drained twice a year for cleaning, and workers have found animal carcasses, paint cans, construction material, fireworks debris and even the plastic bags people use to scoop up after their dogs, said David Shaff, administrator of the city water bureau.
