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way too hard to process the water for this

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ivymike

ivymike

Mechanical
Nov 9, 2000
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Portland officials say a 21-year-old man admitted urinating in a Mt. Tabor reservoir early Wednesday, forcing the city to take a key water supply off line.

David Shaff, administrator for the Water Bureau, said about 7.8 million gallons of drinking water will be discarded because of the incident.

"Do you want to drink pee?" he asked bluntly. "Answer the question. It has nothing to do with scientifically. "Most people," he added, "are gonna be pretty damn squeamish about that."

-- but fish poo, that's another matter.
 
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That is ridiculous!

I don't think they did anything at all. Just told 'the public' they had changed supply.

Squeamish doesn't describe it. Out of proportion, political and PC do.

Gunnar Englund
--------------------------------------
Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.
 
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A qualified nurse who I believe to be credible told me urine is sterile.

However as already mentioned, decaying animal carcases are more of an issue. I imagine animal feces is also an issue.

I think that is why drinking water is treated with sunlight and air as well as chlorine before we see it.

Regards
Pat
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Gunnar is right. PC nonsense. People are horribly hypocritical when it comes to their water supply. They think it's created in a laboratory somewhere. There is a magical "three second rule" that applies to solid food that is dropped on the ground; yet, our water supply is in constant contact with the ground and is filled with living and dead plants, animals, bacteria and algae. Where I live some of the water comes from glacial sources so access to the glacier is restricted so people don't get it dirty. What the?

Pat, yes, urine is in fact sterile unless you have a UTI.

Dan

Dan's Blog
 
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What makes me a bit crazy are the people in Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, who refuse to drink the water, because it "must get" contaminated after coming through the pipes. We are blessed up here at having some of the cleanest, lowest hardness water supplies, but you still get people who drink nothing but bottled water.

Loons. Hope they dehydrate and blow away.
 
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Yeah I definitely never got the extreme hang up over polluting water sources with a little pee etc before they even get processed for drinking.

In this case sounds like the water was already cleaned, but even here is a little human pee really worse than what nature throws in it routinely?



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When I lived in the UK they showed a documentary proving that tap water is purer than bottled water. In fact, some bottled water is very poorly controlled i.e. the rules are too lax. They showed it is legal to stand in a pool of water, pee in it and bottle the water for sale at the same time.

Chris DeArmitt PhD FRSC CChem
 
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Forgive me if I'm wrong but...

Certain animals, such as Rats, love to be around water.

Certain animals, such as Rats, can carry some pretty nasty diseases like amongst others.

(I remember a warning as a kid weils disease when playing around on canal banks etc.)

So it's OK to leave the water open to sources like this, but a little human pee (which doctors used to drink to check for diabetes etc.) is the metaphorical end of the world?

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The Portland Water Bureau and the City of Portland are pretty obsessive about their water supply - there is a long history.

They have been fighting the US EPA for many years to try to avoid the need to provide additional water treatment at Bull Run Reservoir. Their water mainly comes from mountain run-off into reservoirs and receives very little treatment.



 
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dpc said:
Their water mainly comes from mountain run-off into reservoirs and receives very little treatment.
Click to expand...
And that's why there are more breweries in the Portland metro area than any other comparable area elsewhere in the world. Even filtering is opposed by the brew masters.
 
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Well yeah, historically the worse your water was the more pubs you had in the area.

Having a lot of pubs/brew houses is not exactly an advertisement for having good water.

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I will drink Mexican beer, but not Mexican water!

How did they decide which 7.8 million gallons to waste. Bet it wasn't yellow.
 
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Melbourne's water supply is in open air reservoirs. many water supplies are just chlorinated. No filtration or other treatment.

No one stops the kangaroos and wombats from roaming the countryside around the resrvoirs. 2 stroke outboard motors and cattle grazing are banned but all the fauna is free to poop and wee at nauseum.

The Melbourne water meets WHO standards.

In Singapore sewage is treated via RO and adds to the drinking water supply.

What clowns are running this authority? What choice does the consumer have? bottled water? roof drainage? well water?
When we had a crypto and guadia scare in Sydney tested bottle water (the famous French one) had more nasties than the supposedly infected tap water. the one made by the big soft drink manufacturer wasnt even mineral water but tap water!

"Sharing knowledge is the way to immortality"
His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

 
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stanier.

I know for a fact that at least one major "spring water" manufacturer in Sydney had a reverse osmosis plant at Rydalmere and was located on the waterfront of the Parramatta river. I never bothered to check where they drew there water from,but I suspect a well (lets call it an underground spring that never quite made it to the surface without some help) that was 10 metres from the river. ;-)

At least 10 B-doubles came in and out each day.

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &
for site rules
 
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Re: Bottled water.

I use to be careful with water when outside Europe/USA (and Canada, Bill) and therefore drink bottled water.

That is not a very safe practice either. This is what I was served in Kuala Lumpur. I do not know if those little animals were bad for my health. But I quickly decided to dring beer instead.

Gunnar Englund
--------------------------------------
Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.
 
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