Drinking Water

Morrow County has declared a local state of emergency due to high levels nitrates found in drinking water wells.

Portland Water Bureau leaders say they will speed up the timeline for their new treatment facility and distribute free water filters after recent tests revealed elevated lead levels in some homes.

This past November, Portlanders got an urgent reminder that the city’s lead problem has persisted. Out of 104 homes sampled by the water bureau, 10% had lead levels higher than 21 parts per billion (or ppb) — the highest results the city has seen in two decades and well above the federal limit.

The chlorine shortage began earlier this month when the Westlake chemical plant in Longview had a major electrical failure. Now the chemicals used to disinfect drinking water are scarce throughout the Northwest.

The Oregon Water Futures Project highlights many water inequities communities of color face throughout the state and aims to change how state and local water policies are made.

The city is still working on a strategy for treating toxins from an algae bloom in Detroit Reservoir. 

Yet another algae bloom is causing problems in Oregon.

A drinking water advisory in Salem could be lifted this weekend. Rumblings of the chaos the warning caused will linger.

State and Portland city officials have almost 10 years to build and start operating a water filtration plant in the Bull Run Watershed. 

The Eugene School District said Monday it found elevated lead levels in the water at four separate schools.