OREGON LAKE : THE 'YUCK' FACTOR

David Shaff, Administrator , Portland water Bureau, ordered to pump out  water from a  lake which supplied water to Portland city because the security camera showed someone  urinating in to the lake. The lake contained about eight million gallons of water and all that were drained out.

We all know that adding seven or eight ounces of urine is not going to make any difference in purity for the 8 million Gallon lake. The urine it self  is 95 % water and other ingredients in it like urea are not dangerous substances either. Whereas the lake cannot remain cent percent pure as it is in open air.The surroundings have mud embankment and mud would seep down in to the lake with all its impurities. Then there are the birds and water creatures .They all urinate and their dead bodies also assimilate in the waters.

But David shaff, the administrator,  knew all that. Yet he insisted on draining the lake.  His words :" There are people who will say it's an over reaction. I don't think so. I think what you have to deal with here is the 'yuck' factor. I can imagine how many people would be saying 'I made orange juice with that water this morning'. "Do you want to drink pee? Most people are going to be pretty damn squeamish about that,"

In other words he was trying to save  name and glory of the lake which as an administrator he is bound to do while knowing full well that it was an over reaction. If thought again, one has no other go but to agree grudgingly with him.  As some one quipped, even if it was a madness  there is some horse-sense in it.

However  the administrator could have experimented with some bleaching powder and waited for the response of the public.

The lake is again back to its pristine and  potable condition though $36000 and 8 million gallons of water spent for it.  The man who urinated in  the lake, Joshua Seater, was drinking with friends when he decided to relieve himself in the open air reservoir at 1.30 am. He has not been arrested or charged with a crime but he might face a fine perhaps.

He apologized publicly for his behavior and said "It was a stupid thing to do. I didn't know it was a water supply, I thought it was a sewage plant. I wouldn't mind paying for it but I don't have a job right now. I'm willing to do community service to clean up the place because I feel bad."