WHEN a 21-year-old man pissed in Mount Tabor reservoir, Portland, Oregon, the city decided to drain the thing and have it cleaned. It is, after all, a  commonly known fact that nothing taints an open reservoir. Birds do not crap in it. Frogs do not breed in it. Doggers do not wash off in it. Thugs and hooligans do not toss body parts and stolen items in it.  It is pure water at its very best.

The man was spotted urinating in the pristine waters in CCTV. David Shaff, administrator for the Portland Water Bureau, sparked into action. Says he:

“It’s 8 million gallons and there are people who will say it’s an overreaction. I don’t think so. I think just dealing with the ‘yuck factor,’ I can imagine how many people would be saying ‘I made orange juice with that water this morning. That’s not what I want to hear.’ If I shut down the reservoir every time a tennis ball, a dead duck or a dead squirrel or a Frisbee was in the reservoir, I’d shut them down almost daily.”