# Kid pees in reservoir; 38 million gallons to be drained **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347 "2014-04-17T15:39:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/81 "2014-04-18T19:41:29Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Any possibility Portland just _told_ people they’re flushing away 38 million gallons of water to make them feel better about kids peeing in the reservoir? Exactly my first thought. And I hope that’s what they did. As one of the comments on that article said: “Uninformed public perception is the biggest driver of unnecessary costs in this country”. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/82 "2014-04-18T19:47:13Z")
For then next few weeks I’m no longer going to spell things on the phone with “P for Ptolemy,” “P for Pterodactyl,” or “P for pneumonia.” No, for a little while I’m going to switch to “P as in reservoir.” Fuck, you want my email address over the phone, I’m going to kick the passive agressiveness up a notch" \*Yes, that’s P as in reservoir. \* Um, did you say “reservoir”? \*Yes, P as in reservoir. Kind of like D as in dogs, but not. \* Wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/83 "2014-04-21T22:46:56Z")
I didn’t read all replies. It has not been widely reported but apparently this reservoir is drained twice yearly anyway. Google news had links to several sources. So why did the water managers not just say ‘no big deal as we’re gonna drain it soon anyway’? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/84 "2014-04-21T22:53:08Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > I didn’t read all replies. It has not been widely reported but apparently this reservoir is drained twice yearly anyway. Google news had links to several sources. According to one of the replies above ( **Alley Dweller** , Post #71) it was last drained just three weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/85 "2014-04-21T22:54:52Z")
It had its semiannual draining only three weeks previously. And I’m not sure of this, but I believe when they are cleaned, they are drained by sending the water on to homes. They don’t dump the water into the sewers, as they did in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/86 "2014-04-21T23:03:26Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > It’s not like they can just ship the water down to Southern California. Bad for glass. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/87 "2014-04-22T02:29:19Z")
Aren’t most water bottles, from Dasani to Sparkletts, made of plastic these days? California could really, really use the water, thanks to our ongoing drought. I wonder how much it _would_ cost to ship 38 million gal. via FedEx? ---
**Author:** ![Cerealbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Cerealbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerealbox)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/88 "2014-04-22T02:44:28Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > [Can anyone explain this to me?](http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/17/us/oregon-teen-urinates-into-water-supply/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) > > Here are my assumptions, which may of course be incorrect. > > 1)The reservoir holds water. It flows into the treatment plant, is treated, and pumped to the community. > > 2)Birds fly over and poop in the water. Airborne contaminants can settle in the water. > Other things I can’t think of. We don’t cover the lake to prevent this. > > Surely a pint of urine -sterile as it leaves its discharge pipe under pressure - can’t render 38 million gallons of water undrinkable or untreatable. > > No, I don’t to drink your pee, and yes there should be a fence to keep people from contaminating drinking water, but what is the real danger from this incident? The guys defense was essentially that it would gross people out and it wasn’t expensive to dump the water since it’s the north-west, not Arizona. That’s all there is to it. However, I do have to point out that urine isn’t actually sterile when it leaves your body, only when it’s still in the bladder. So that’s kind of a myth, except it’s based on the fact that medical textbooks do say that, but people misinterpret what that means ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/89 "2014-04-22T03:38:28Z")
Oregon’s having a very low precipitation year. I don’t know where this water comes from, but the manager’s attitude was cavalier. ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/90 "2014-04-22T04:47:55Z")
I think the thing that puts this all into perspective for me is the fact that it is 18 hours of supply. If that was the figure quoted by the media instead of 38 million gallons then it would have made all the difference. To the water managers, disposing of 18 hours supply isn’t that expensive in the grand scheme of things. To the doofus who did it, “your peeing in the water caused 18 hours of water for an entire region to be considered contaminated. What were you thinking?” It sounds to me like the actual concentrations and risks involved were never the issues. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/91 "2014-04-22T06:08:31Z")
The kid just wanted to share his precious bodily fluids. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/92 "2014-04-22T06:15:48Z")
> [@j\_sum1](#): > > I think the thing that puts this all into perspective for me is the fact that it is 18 hours of supply. 18 hours supply for how many people? ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/93 "2014-04-22T06:29:18Z")
The things I’ve seen happen in Lake Michigan while at the Indiana dunes. I’m not even counting the industrial stuff, just what people are doing while swimming. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/94 "2014-04-22T11:53:45Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > The things I’ve seen happen in Lake Michigan while at the Indiana dunes. > > I’m not even counting the industrial stuff, just what people are doing while swimming. Lake Michigan water isn’t pumped straight into municipal water systems without treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/95 "2014-04-22T12:48:16Z")
Seems so sad just to piss all that water away. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/96 "2014-04-22T15:52:31Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Oregon’s having a very low precipitation year. I don’t know where this water comes from, but the manager’s attitude was cavalier. This was true back in February and is still true in Southern Oregon. But the late winter storms in Northern Oregon put us in decent shape for the rest of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/97 "2014-04-22T16:36:18Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > 18 hours supply for how many people? And at what level of pee concentration deemed worthwhile to drink? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/98 "2014-04-22T17:13:39Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > They do NOT want to know what boaters have been doing around the Chicago water system intakes for decades. Boating? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/99 "2014-04-22T22:04:22Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > This was true back in February and is still true in Southern Oregon. But the late winter storms in Northern Oregon put us in decent shape for the rest of the year. Yes, but still “moderate drought” conditions for northern OR as of 4/1: [http://www.oregon.gov/owrd/pages/wr/drought.aspx#Current\_Conditions\_in\_Oregon](http://www.oregon.gov/owrd/pages/wr/drought.aspx#Current_Conditions_in_Oregon) ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347/100 "2014-04-22T22:08:58Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Lake Michigan water isn’t pumped straight into municipal water systems without treatment. According to the OP neither is the reservoir in question. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-pees-in-reservoir-38-million-gallons-to-be-drained/686347.md?page=6)