Portland will dump 38 million gallons of water from reservoir that teen peed in
David McNew/Getty Images
Portland is draining 38 millions of gallons of treated water from a reservoir because a 19-year-old man drained himself into it.
Although the man's urine doesn't pose a health risk — animals routinely pee in the reservoirs, after all — a water department spokesman said the city doesn't want to deliver deliberately tainted material.
The incident occurred earlier this week, when three men were horsing around one night at the massive treatment facility in Oregon. A camera spotted one of the guys peeing through the iron fence, while the other two unsuccessfully tried climbing it. Their names haven't been released, but the men were cited for trespassing. The peeing culprit was cited for public urination.
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This is the second time in three years that Portland had to drain a reservoir at this same facility.
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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.
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