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Comment by chimeracoder | Hacker News Reader

If this is an open-air reservoir, chances are all sorts of animals have done all sorts of nasty things in it already - the only difference is that this kid got caught.

With an open-air water reservoir, I'd be much more concerned about things like Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm)[0] than urine. Thankfully, the Guinea worm poses a low risk to the US due to how easy it is to prevent[1], but it's a problem elsewhere in the world.

Dracunculiasis only occurs in four countries (and the US is not one), but the reason it spreads/persists there is due to improper practices regarding drinking water.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracunculiasis

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracunculiasis#Cause - each generation of worms needs a human host, so even if a single water supply were contaminated, it would not be able to reproduce again unless the water supply were re-contaminated.

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Portland has open air reservoirs in Mt. Tabor and Washington Park. They're both fenced off, but I do know that dead animals have been found in the Washington Park reservoirs before. what was surprising to me is that this is the first time I realized that the water in these reservoirs has already been processed. I always assumed that they held pre-processed water.

Oh well, at least it isn't as bad as when sewage overflows get released into the Willamette River every few years.

>>what was surprising to me is that this is the first time I realized that the water in these reservoirs has already been processed

I don't believe this. If that was true the entire city would face massive health issues. What is your source of the info?

>I don't believe this. If that was true the entire city would face massive health issues. What is your source of the info?

The city of Portland says so:

http://www.portlandoregon.gov/WATER/article/330807

A finished drinking water reservoir contains water that has been through all the treatment steps required by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and can be delivered to the public without further treatment. Five of Portland’s finished drinking water reservoirs are uncovered. Three are located at Mount Tabor Park and two are located in Washington Park.

The Mount Tabor reservoir was the one in question.

That sounds like an altogether terrible idea. All it would take is several birds to fly over the water and it'll have fish in it. And then they'll go to the restroom and so on. :/

In my Environmental Engineering class we learned that in the USA, unlike much of the rest of the world, water is chlorinated during the treatment process. The residual chlorine left in the water makes tap water less susceptible to contamination than other treatment methods. A quick google search indicates tap water in Portland is in fact chlorinated (actually, chloramined, which is even safer but has similar benefits), so a small amount of pathogens shouldn't make the water undrinkable.

This article has a section header "Health benefits of open water reservoirs". http://southeastexaminer.com/2013/07/open-air-reservoirs-and...

I would be more worried about Giardia, which definitely is found in Oregon.

Someone said that there were ducks in this water. Ducks are nasty critters and can carry all kinds of things that are infectious to humans.

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