Bull Run Water - the most protected in the nation

While we await the results of further tests of Bull Run water, it’s important to review the basic facts. Portland has the most protected drinking watershed in the country. It’s specifically protected from infectious sources of Cryptosporidium (humans and domestic animals). The most expensive, intensive monitoring in the nation revealed zero Cryptosporidium in our water over the last ten years. Though there has been evidence of some oocysts (likely non-infectious to humans) in the past, there has never been, in over 100 years, any evidence of cryptosporidiosis infection originating in Bull Run water.  Regardless of the outcome of genotyping (which we support), there is no evidence that the single oocyst found at the intake was capable of infecting anyone. So long as protections remain in place, Bull Run water is the safest in the nation.  A treatment plant constructed to deal with a theoretical risk of cryptosporidiosis originating from this source would be a huge waste of precious and limited public resources.