Treat Portland (OR) water with a $150 Million UV/Ozone not a $1 Billion Filtration Plant.
Treat Portland (OR) water with a $150 Million UV/Ozone not a $1 Billion Filtration Plant.
Why this petition matters
Ratepayers demand the Portland (OR) City Council reverse their decision for the outrageously expensive $1,000,000,000 Sand Filtration Plant and redirect the Portland Water Bureau (PWB) to implement a fiscally responsible $100-150 Million UV/Ozone system at Headworks at the existing treatment location.
In order to comply with a federal EPA requirement to treat drinking water for Cryptosporidium by 2027, the PWB sought approval from the Portland City Council to build an estimated $1 Billion filtration plant, adding unnecessary additional chemicals and cost to our wonderful Bull Run Water.
There are other EPA-approved, effective and environmentally friendly treatment options.
Why not Filtration?
• Cost – The current plan will significantly increase water rates in the Portland metro area. Estimates show that the typical residential customer will have an increase of over $430 per year by the end of construction.
• Chemicals – The filtration plant will add thousands of tons of chemicals to the drinking water.
• Environmental Impact – Typical filtration plants of this size generate over 3,600 cubic yards of waste into our landfills annually. The transport of 1000’s of tons of chemicals and waste will emit 90,000 lbs. of CO2 into the atmosphere. Year after year…
Why UV/Ozone?
UV or UV/Ozone is a proven methodology used in many other major US cities (i.e. Seattle, San Francisco and New York), and can be implemented for an estimated cost of $100 - $150 Million.
• No additional chemicals required.
• Does not require $200,000,000 for new pipelines.
• No added waste to landfills.
• A UV/Ozone facility can be implemented years sooner.
• The PWB already spent $16 Million dollars to design a UV treatment facility specifically to meet the EPA rules
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