Portland Water Once Again Coming From Bull Run Reservoir

One month after the Portland Water Bureau turned off the connection to the Bull Run Watershed because of the repeated discovery of parasites during testing, they have to turned the spigot back on. The decision was made after consulting with officials at the Oregon Health Authority and health officials with Multnomah County.

They had shut off the water from the reservoir and switched to the Columbia South Shore Well Field in response to repeated detection of Cryptosporidium in the Bull Run water.

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The water bureau says that switching over last month gave them a chance to conduct further monitoring and investigation, and work with health officials to monitor community health data.

Based on data collected and investigations conducted, the bureau continues to believe the health risk to the public from Bull Run water is low.

"Our top priority is to protect public health," said Water Bureau Administrator Mike Stuhr. "The evidence and data collected, along with input from our partners with the Multnomah County Health Department and regulators at the Oregon Health Authority, indicates the risk remains low."

The Multnomah County Health Department routinely monitors for illness caused by Cryptosporidium.

On February 1, Multnomah County health officials issued a provider alert to let them know about the discovery of Cryptosporidium to let them know to be on the look out for symptoms.

Officials say there have actually been fewer than expected cases of Cryptosporidium illness reported so far in 2017.

"Our ongoing surveillance for Cryptosporidium illness has not detected any unexpected increase," said Multnomah County and Tri-County Health Officer Dr. Paul Lewis. "At this time the general public does not need to take any additional precautions. As always, we recommend that people with severely compromised immune systems discuss their individual health needs with their physicians."

The most recent detection for Cryptosporidium was from a sample collected March 8, 2017, that had one oocyst.

Officials say that they expect there to continue detecting low levels of the parasite. At the same time, after consulting with health officials, they are confident in their decision to resume delivering Bull Run water.

In addition to providing water to the people of Portland, Bull Run supplies several other areas including Gresham and Sandy.

Photo Portland Water Bureau