Urine Trouble: Peeing in the Mt. Tabor Reservoir Costs the City $35,000

Urine Trouble: Peeing in the Mt. Tabor Reservoir Costs the City $35,000

blogtown. portlandmercury.com

When an apparently drunk man peed in a Mount Tabor reservoir around 1:30am last night, he set off an unprecedented chain reaction.

Then, the water bureau made the call to dump the entire 7.2 million gallons of water in the reservoir, at a cost of over $35,000.* That's one expensive trip to the bathroom.

(visit the link for the full news article)

More:

I asked Shaff whether they follow the same protocol—shutting off the water and dumping the whole reservoir—when an animal urinates or dies in the water (last year, bird poop caused an E. coli scare in westside water).

"If we did that, we'd be shutting it off all the time. We fish out animals or things that have blown in all the time," said Shaff. So why shut it off the water for human pee? Especially if it sends $35,000 down the drain?

"Do you want to be drinking someone's pee?" replied Shaff. Um, no. "Okay, there you go, there's your answer. We are being incredibly conservative and cautious. It simply makes sense. There's probably no regulation that says I have to be doing it but, again, who wants to be drinking pee?

Yeah, "it simply makes sense" to waste 7.2 million gallons of water because of some piss in it.

Where I grew up, the town had a reservoir on a hill where we could fish out of, and pissing in it was not uncommon at all. The only problem with the water was that you could taste the chlorine added to it (but that's nothing compared to city water).

What a waste. I bet they'll regret this when the Great World Water War breaks out.

blogtown. portlandmercury.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Thats silly .. im sure many creatures are pooping and peeing in the reservoir to
if its filtered .. i wouldnt mather
im drinking water from water bottle that i buy 30 bottles for 2$
it taste way better then normal water with metal taste

Of what is actually harmful in urine what would the PPM be in the reservoir?

The standard filter/chlorine can't handle that?

What about the waste of the animals living around the reservoir?

This is one of the retarded things I've ever seen a government do.

This irritates me so much about these goons:

He has some idea that he's made a mistake, but he has no idea how big."

Their overreaction is your fault. It's your fault they blow millions sending troops and helicopters and armored vehicles to investigate a toy left on a sidewalk. It's your fault some spilled baking soda in a parking lot evacuates a supermarket and puts a town in lockdown. It's your fault some jerkoff decided to dump 8 million gallons of water for no rational reason.

They # up costing you and I millions if not billions and it's your fault.

Oh, those WMD's? That's your fault we couldnt find'em.

The quite funny thing is that urine is sterile and contains no bacteria
unless the person is diseased.

7.2 million gallons is 921,600,000 ounces.

A human bladder can hold a maximum of around 20 ounces.

That equates to a 46 million to 1 dilution.

46 million to 1 and they had to toss it ???

Idiocracy here we come !!!

Explanation: S&F!



Personal Disclosure: Same old same old eh! Shamefull and Disgusting WASTE!

I'd be willing to bet that someone with influence over this retarded decision benefited somehow from the 35k that was spent.

reply to post by SevenBeans


That has to be the only possible explanation for this utter stupidity... They don't realize fish use the water as a bathroom?

reply to post by TKDRL


And the birds that poo in the water....

But one guy takes a leak and they waste all that water because of the 'yuck factor'.



bird poo

Originally posted by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi
Where I grew up, the town had a reservoir on a hill where we could fish out of, and pissing in it was not uncommon at all. The only problem with the water was that you could taste the chlorine added to it (but that's nothing compared to city water).

They put chlorine directly into the lake? And there were fish in it? Sorry I must have totally misunderstood your message, as I have never heard of chlorinating a lake. My limited understanding is that chlorine dissipates very quickly, and as well chlorine is not so good for the fish habitat. Chlorine is a disinfectant isn't it?

Originally posted by SevenBeans

I'd be willing to bet that someone with influence over this retarded decision benefited somehow from the 35k that was spent.

Proverbial nail on the head right there. Just another excuse to divert money someplace else, and get a little something for yourself in the process.

"Do you want to drink pee?"

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/63f3410a4425.jpg[/atsimg]


Seriously...35k to clear out some urine? Sounds like the city needs to fire someone, honestly.

Originally posted by IronDogg

Originally posted by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi
Where I grew up, the town had a reservoir on a hill where we could fish out of, and pissing in it was not uncommon at all. The only problem with the water was that you could taste the chlorine added to it (but that's nothing compared to city water).

They put chlorine directly into the lake? And there were fish in it? Sorry I must have totally misunderstood your message, as I have never heard of chlorinating a lake. My limited understanding is that chlorine dissipates very quickly, and as well chlorine is not so good for the fish habitat. Chlorine is a disinfectant isn't it?

Even more, if they are treating the water while in the reservior, the sun tends to destroy the chlorine. It is a huge waste to chlorinate a lake, and it violates most state health ordinances as you cannot ensure the proper PPM of the chlorine on the potable water when you cannot determine what it is in the raw feed.

If I was paying taxes there I would want the person/persons that made that decision to do one or two things.


1) Take the $35,000 out of their personal pay.

2) Step down and resign


Over-reaction at it finest without a single thought to the financial repercussions.

Originally posted by IronDogg

Originally posted by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi
Where I grew up, the town had a reservoir on a hill where we could fish out of, and pissing in it was not uncommon at all. The only problem with the water was that you could taste the chlorine added to it (but that's nothing compared to city water).

They put chlorine directly into the lake? And there were fish in it? Sorry I must have totally misunderstood your message, as I have never heard of chlorinating a lake. My limited understanding is that chlorine dissipates very quickly, and as well chlorine is not so good for the fish habitat. Chlorine is a disinfectant isn't it?

No, the chlorine was added down the waterline before it made it to town. The reservoir was just a pond on the side of a mountain for the most part. Just clarifying. Oh, and I guess it's worth mentioning that this chlorination program was apparently dropped in my town years ago but I'm not sure if they didn't just replace it with flouride. Either way, we still have to boil water from time to time.

It still beats city water though.

hasn't the city ever heard the saying if its brown flush it down if its yellow let it mellow.

reply to post by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi



That is ridiculous!
A bit of a side note, but relevant in a way: I personally know people that drink urine for "health" reasons.
'Course, it is their own and nicely chilled, usually.


(Urine is sterile BTW)

reply to post by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi


That's crazy, plain and simple. Urine is actually cleaner than water that come from the lake, or the tap, for that matter. If the city is so worried, they out to take a good hard look at the chemicals and drugs they purposely put in the water.

Originally posted by Ben81it taste way better then normal water with metal taste

I would venture to guess that it's your plumbing not the delivery system that accounts for the metallic taste.

Dumping the water was not wise IMHO. The person who made the call to dump it should be made to pay for at least half of the 35K out of his own pocket.