PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Call it the big flush. Because a 21-year-old man was caught on a security camera urinating into a city reservoir, Oregon’s biggest city is sending 8 million gallons of treated drinking water down the drain. Portland officials defended the decision Monday, 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.
The young man, Josh Seater, told KATU-TV he’d been drinking, was with friends and thought that the reservoir was a sewage treatment plant. He said he felt guilty instantly, and then security guards arrived. “I knew I did wrong when I did it,” he told the station. In addition to the sewage charge, Shaff said, the flushed water is worth $28,000.
Some people in the city, in the suburbs and around the world called the flush an overreaction, especially since animals such as ducks contribute waste routinely and, sometimes, die in the water. “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.
The public pool system will however, remain open for businesss! Last one in is a rotten egg…….
#21,
I guess they have never heard of this new thing call a water tower.
Water towers are more for pressure regulation than storage. It is the weight of the water in the tower and down pipe that creates the pressure and the hydraulic effect that evens it out. Using a pump to regulate pressure is very difficult to maintain any evenness across the system.
Most towers only hold enough water for a few hours to a day or two.
Old English poem:
See the happy moron he doesn’t give a damn
I wish I was a moron – Oh God! Perhaps I am.
dumbasses
In related news, we may desire “pure” water to chase a drink of horse semen. I am heartened that the women seem to like it.
Let’s call it extreme liberal social programing?
http://stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/5176745/Women-flock-to-take-horse-semen-shots
A freakin Meth head
I can forgive him. The poor guy is brain damaged from walking into walls and falling down embankments. Someone should tell him that he’s wearing his glasses on the wrong side of his head.
An Image: The early morning of April 14, 1912. Uniformed servants hurriedly arrange deck chairs of the RMS Titanic, in preparation of the days festivities.
Never mind that the EPA declares the recent spikes in iodine-131 in drinking water still “safe”.
While Cesium-137 is being found at the FDA’s “maximum tolerable” levels in milk.
Apparently, this is all bad news only if you plan on exceeding your maximun life expectancy.
Fukushima’s legacy has not been fully resolved.
Fuckyoushima not fully resolved?
Heh, heh. Its still actively spilling radioactive material into the atmosphere, ie–the reactors are still boiling water producing steam and radioactive waste 24/7 and will for at least another 6 months. And another earthquake could more easily than before make all 4 reactors and who knows what in the waste ponds all go China Syndrome.
Yes, not fully resolved yet, but its a proven safe and green and cheap energy solution for all those who support our Corporate Overlords and their no tax policies and free market no regulation stance.
The future is so bright, I glow at night.
#32 Yes towers are used as pressure control and storage. However, Missouri does not allow the use of open reservoirs for finished water for this exact reason. The amount of storage or residence time is dependent on usage. I had multiple towers that could and do cover the entire city when another was out for service or painting. We just had to ramp up production at the water plant to offset the loss of storage. We also had booster pumps for both pressure and injections of chlorine to maintain the appropriate residuals. We do have ground storage containers located on hillsides etc. but these are not open.