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Apr 18
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US city flushes reservoir after man urinates in it
ninemsn staff
3:33pm April 18, 2014
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The
US city of Portland, Oregon, is ditching 38 million gallons of drinking
water from a reservoir after a teenager was caught on camera urinating
into it, officials said yestersday.
The
water -- enough to fill nearly 60 Olympic-size swimming pools,
according to reports -- will be discarded despite tests finding no
evidence of contamination.
The
19-year old man, seen with two friends carrying skateboards in the
early hours Wednesday, was filmed urinating through an iron fence into
the reservoir in southeast Portland shortly after 1:00 am.
David
Shaff, Portland Water Bureau Administrator, said about 38 million
gallons will be discarded and replaced with fresh water from the Bull
Run water supply -- even though subsequent tests showed no
contamination.
"Our
customers have an expectation that their water is not deliberately
contaminated. We have the ability to meet that expectation while
minimizing public health concerns," he said.
Portland
Water Bureau spokesman Tim Hall dismissed suggestions that flushing
away so much water was an overreaction to one man urinating in a
reservoir.
"Any
time there is human contamination of our drinking water, as a
precaution we shut the reservoir down and begin to drain and clean it,"
he told AFP.
He
added: "We're in an enviable position of having an abundant supply ...
Therefore releasing this water did not create any financial impact in
the city or for our customers."
But
the decision raised eyebrows further south down the US West Coast,
where California is suffering from its worst drought in decades.
"Really,
Portland Water Bureau officials, do you have to flush 38 million
gallons of potable water for the sake of a cup or two of human urine?"
one Los Angeles Times commentary asked.
"Have
a little pity on your neighbors to the south. Remember California? That
big, dry behemoth .... How do you think we feel, when we hear the
whoosh of 38 million gallons going to waste?
"We're in a drought, remember? Not good. No, not good at all."
The
three men involved have been excluded from the reservoir area, while
police were reviewing the video surveillance footage to decide whether
to press criminal charges, Hall said.
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