Man Urinates in City's Drinking Water Reservoir

When you gotta go -- you gotta go! A 21-year old man in Portland had a little too much to drink, and took a leak -- in a city water reservoir. But now, a full bladder is the least of his problems. Here’s HLN:

“The city of Portland drained the entire reservoir -- more than 7 million gallons of water -- to get rid of it. The suspect admits, he wasn’t thinking clearly. He may be charged for part of the $35,000 to drain the reservoir. The 21-year old says -- 'I can’t pay, I’m unemployed.'”

The city drained the 7.8 million gallon reservoir immediately, at a lofty cost. KXL interviewed the water bureau administrator who did the math:

“And if we sold that 7.8 million gallons at our normal rate, it’s worth over $28,000. It’s going to cost us, about  $7,600---- $7,700 to dump that. Then its going to cost, obviously, the personnel time we would otherwise not expend to clean the reservoir and put it back online.”

That means about $35,000… down the drain. Seems pretty expensive for a little urine, especially in a reservoir already prone to ducks swimming and squirrels drinking. The Oregonian’s Brad Schmidt asks toxicology professor David Stone -- it it even worth it?

"It's inappropriate behavior. But how many animals are doing that or birds?... I don't want to second-guess the city, but I can't think of anything chemically that would have me be concerned."

CNN sister station KGW has the city’s answer to that question.

DAVID SHAFF, PORTLAND WATER BUREAU:
“More likely than not, a tiny bit of urine in more than 8 million gallons of water isn’t going to hurt anybody. In this one -- I guess I’m responding in part to the yuck factor.”


RANDY LEONARD, CITY COMMISSIONER:
“The water is chlorinated, but it’s chlorinated before the reservoirs. So the water that is in the reservoirs you see - is literally the water that you drink.”

Four of the "urinator’s" friends joined him in the park that morning, and were caught on the same security camera throwing items into the pool. KATU explains -- their fate is unknown, as of now.

“No one has been arrested or cited in this case, the district attorney will determine any possible criminal charges. Obviously we’re not naming that 21-year old but I did talk to him on the phone and he apologizes, he says he’ll do any kind of volunteer work, anything he’s gotta do.”

The district attorney will ultimately decide whether to file charges. A local police officer told KGW -- this could have all been avoided if the young man had just used... a bush.