Portland to drain tainted reservoir

PORTLAND – Portland officials are once again preparing to flush millions of gallons of treated water because someone urinated in a city reservoir.

Water Bureau Administrator David Shaff said 38 million gallons will be discarded after a 19-year-old was videotaped in the act Wednesday.

Three years ago, the city drained a 7.5-million-gallon reservoir at the same Mount Tabor location in southeast Portland.

The open reservoirs hold water that’s already been treated and goes directly into mains for distribution to customers.

The urine poses little risk – animals routinely deposit waste without creating a public health crisis – but Shaff said he doesn’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.”

Water quality test samples have been taken from the reservoir, with results due today. The water will be drained into the sewage system that eventually dumps into the Columbia River.

The incident occurred shortly after 1 a.m., when Water Bureau security personnel noticed three men on camera at Mount Tabor Reservoir No. 5. One was seen on video urinating through an iron fence, officials said. Minutes later, two other young men attempted to scale the fence.

The three men, whose names have not been released, were cited for trespassing and excluded from Mount Tabor Park. A 19-year-old was cited for public urination.

The kidney-shaped reservoir built in 1911 is drained for cleaning each spring and fall. The spring draining was done about three weeks ago, the Water Bureau said.