PSU Magazine Fall 1999

There's no doubt about that, says PSU's James "Dick" Pratt, chair of Environmental Biology and a specialist in water safety. The river has been thor– oughly tested, and a small-scale proto– type of the proposed treatment system has already tested its effectiveness. The state-of-the-art plant, a varia– tion on a standard system, would cleanse the water through a three– stage filtrati on process, accord ing to Pratt. Each phase targets a different type of contaminant. In the first phase, aluminum sulfate would be added to the water. The chemical clings to larger particles and heavy metals, which then coagulate and settle to the bottom. Think of a cup of tea left sitting around for a few hours and how loose tea leaves end up at the bottom of the cup. Next, water from a first-stage pool is drained from the top into a second pool, where it filters down through a layer of sand , eliminating harmful bacteria like giard ia. Finally, the water passes through a leve l of activated carbon. With their positive and negative charges, the carbon granules attract the molecules of other pollutants, like pesticides, to their surface. As the granules gum up with pollutants, they're rep laced with new carbon. ratt is not alone in his opinion that such a treatment system would create safe drinking water. In a panel discu sion before the Wilsonville City Council, four other scientists concurred. But the Oregon Environmental Council, which has led a campaign against the proposal is not convinced. "We don't have enough informa– tion about what is in that stretch of the river yet," says the council's Hillary Abraham. "One analysis, for instance, revea led deformed pike minnow fish, and no one knows exactly what cau ed the problem." "If you haven't identified all the contaminants, how can you say a treatment system's going to be effec– tive?'' she asks. "We think the plan is premature." Pratt disagrees. "Do we know what's in the river?Yes. Do we know what's in the water at extremely low concen– trations, and what the exact mix of those chemicals is? No. But we don't know that for any body of water in the country. So we use a variety of tech– niques for treatment." The new plant would meet the highest federal standards fo r safe drinking water, Pratt says. ven if the Willamette can be adequately treated, aren't there other alternatives for the thir ty uburbs? Portland's Bull Run system is one obvious answer. Raising the two ex ist– ing dams on the Bull Run River would meet all reg ional water needs for the next 50 years, and building a third dam would make enough water ava il– able to serve the area for 200 years, according to a city analysis. But besides the ticklish matter of local control, there's the question of cost. For Wilsonville and Tigard , rely– ing on Bull Run would be cheaper in the short-run , Pratt says. But over time, tapp ing the Willamette would be le s expensive and would "create a virtually limitless supply of water right at their back door." Portland has a stake in the question of cost, as well. It has been counting on the outlying communities to help pay for the expansion of its Bull Run system. But a more important issue for Portland is the need for an alternative backup source for its own drinking water, Pratt says. Currently, the city relies on 24 ground wells within a mile of the Columbia River, between Interstate 205 and Blue Lake Park. When floods or slides muddy the Bull Run reser– voirs, Portland switches to its backup system. That has happened 10 times since 1985. Though the wells are currently safe, they're in the middle of the Columbi a corridor, a strip of industrial land that boasts some of the region 's best-paying jobs-and most polluted groundwater. Some studies predict that contami– nants could threaten the system within 20 years, accord ing to Pratt. ''.And what happens if Mt. Hood erupts or there's some other catastro- phe in the Bull Run watershed? The Willamette cou ld be a valuable alter– native." Finally, there's the question of taste. However "pure" treated water from the Willamette may be, no one argues that it will rival the quality of the Bull Run, which has been slaking Portland's thirst since 1892. "You can 't get water much cleaner than the Bull Run," says Scott Wells, PSU professor of civil engineering. Wells, who rece ived a grant to study the Bull Run reservoirs, says Portland's water is as good as bottled water– even better. Wells points to a four-year study which tested 103 brands of bottled water and found that one-third of them contained chemical or bacterial contaminat ion exceed ing government guidelines. In contrast, Portland' Bull Run water-coming from a fo rested, protected watershed in the moun– tains-is so good that people in the region now have very high standards, he says. The city's water bureau even hires "odor experts"-people who, like wine tasters, have "calibrated noses"– to help track down the source of consumer complaints about the smell or taste of their water. o for treated water from the Willamette, taste is the big question mark, Wells says. "We have the engineering tech– nology to clean just about anything. On the space shuttle, they recycle pure waste into drinking water." But that doesn't mean people will like the idea of drinking water from a river like the Willamette, he says. "Personally, I'd rather drink Bull Run water." Most people, it seems, feel the same way. So in the end, it may be the public's calibrated nose-not technol– ogy's wizardry-that settles the issue. 0 (]ack Yost MA '71 , a frequent contribu– tor to PSU Magazine, wrote the articles "PSU's Biggest Fan" and "Slip Sliding Away ," published in the spring 1999 issue.) FALL 1999 PSU MAGAZINE 9