Evidently, these are the good times:

Portland will dispose of 38 million gallons of treated reservoir water after learning that a 19-year-old man urinated into it, even though urine-tainted drinking water is apparently not much of a health risk.

Yes, there is little to no health risk here. This massive flushing instead has its cause in the realm of culture. Water Bureau Administrator David Shaff: "[T]he reality is our customers don't anticipate drinking water that's been contaminated by some yahoo who decided to pee into a reservoir." There is even the possibility that no urine reached the water. The video...

But the administrators seem not to care if the youth's pee hit or do not hit the water because flushing 38 million gallons of water is not a big deal to them. Portland has lots of rain, they say. Who cares if this large amount of water stays or goes.

"We're not in the arid Southwest; we're not in drought-stricken parts of Texas or Oklahoma."

These water management people make it seem like they supply water to the city for free.