Hall Monitor

Compared to Portland, I come from a place with filthy water.
There’s an urban legend in London that the tap water has been
through someone else‘s body seven times before one drinks
it, and my front teeth are still slightly discolored from all the added
fluoride. Growing up, I would notice an occasional whiff of chlorine
used to disinfect the stuff. It’s no wonder most Londoners would rather
drink lager.

In contrast, Portland’s Bull Run Watershed is listed among a
handful of outstanding sources of water in the United States.
“From forest to faucet,” claims the water bureau website, “the Portland
Water Bureau delivers the best drinking water in the world.”

And yet last week, the city’s Water Commissioner Randy
Leonard was put in the uncomfortable position of proposing the
construction of a $100 million ultraviolet filtration system to
comply with new “LT2” standards imposed by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle have already
chosen similar filtration methods to eradicate a waterborne
microorganism called Cryptosporidium under the LT2 rules.

The rub? Cryptosporidium hasn’t been found in Portland’s drinking
water in living memory, and in the words of City Commissioner Nick
Fish at last week’s council session, UV filtration here is
effectively a solution to “a problem that doesn‘t
exist.“

However the city has already spent $1 million on an unsuccessful
lawsuit seeking to avoid compliance with the new filtration laws, and
is simultaneously working with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley to
get a “variance” from the EPA’s mandate in DC. In the meantime, the
city must proceed toward compliance with the EPA over the next few
years, or water bureau bosses could ultimately face jail
time.

Despite agreeing that filtration is unnecessary, Leonard had
originally wanted a $385 million sand-filtration
system—apparently if you’re going to do something unnecessary,
it’s a good idea to really push the boat out. But the cheaper UV
solution was a compromise after his fellow city commissioners cited
cost concerns.

“Portland already has one of the highest combined water and sewer
rates in the country,” said Fish.

Smart words, but the federal government is still going to present
Portland taxpayers with a $100 million tab that most agree is
unnecessary. If only the money could be spent in London instead! Here
in Portland, if there were ever such an unlikely emergency, it would
probably just be cheaper to buy everyone bottled water. (Or
maybe—lager?)