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The Water Bureau said it has stopped using Bull Run water out of an “abundance of caution” in response to repeated detection of a parasite known as cryptosporidium. It may take up to two weeks, depending on location, for groundwater to make its way through the distribution system to homes and businesses.
The Portland Water Bureau serves more than 1 million people including customers in Portland and several of its suburbs. The city agency has received permission from state and federal regulators not to treat water from the Bull Run watershed for cryptosporidium. The water agency sometimes supplements or replaces Bull Run water for other reasons, such as during the summer dry season or when heavy rains cause high sediment levels in the Bull Run.
What has caused this occurrence of cryptosporidium?
State regulators with the Oregon Health Authority did not require the city to make this switch.
So why switch now?
How long will the switch to groundwater last?
The short version: City leaders don’t know.
“We’re going to continue to sample Bull Run for crypto. When we have enough additional information about the source and the cause of these detections, we’ll talk again with OHA and the county, our public health partners, and we’ll make a determination,” Stuhr said.