Health

Portland to flush 38M gallons after teen urinated in reservoir

Millions of gallons of treated water will be flushed away after a Portland, Ore. teen used a city reservoir as his personal toilet.

On Wednesday, the 19-year-old was caught on surveillance video peeing into the reservoir through an iron fence and was later cited for public urination.

Even though wild animals aren’t shy about relieving themselves in the reservoir and the fact that urine-tainted water poses little threat to residents’ health, Water Bureau Administrator David Shaff said all of the 38 million gallons of water the reservoir holds will be drained into the sewage system.

“There is at least a perceived difference from my perspective,” Shaff told the AP. “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.”

Residents shouldn’t worry about a water shortage, he added.

“It’s easy to replace those 38 million gallons of water,” Shaff told the AP. “We’re not in the arid Southwest; we’re not in drought-stricken parts of Texas or Oklahoma.”

The teenager was caught on tape around 1 a.m. with two other young men, who attempted to climb the iron fence that surrounds the reservoir. All three were cited for trespassing.

This isn’t the first time someone has urinated into the city’s treated water supply.

In 2011, a similar incident occurred when the city had to drain a 7.5-million-gallon reservoir after a man relieved himself into it. He eventually pleaded guilty to misuse of a reservoir.