Lower Burnside news...
Jan 2,2009
Portland Water Bureau unveils toilet rebate program
by jenniferd
Beginning January 1, 2009, Portland Water Bureau customers are invited to take advantage of a new toilet rebate program sponsored by the Portland Water Bureau for a limited time. Customers can apply for a $100 rebate for replacing a traditional toilet (1.6 gallons per flush (gpf) or more) with a newer, more water-efficient model that has been labeled WaterSense, by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To earn the EPA's WaterSense label , toilets must use no more than 1.28 gpf and meet rigorous performance criteria. The bureau is conducting the program until funds are depleted or until June 30, 2009. To receive the rebate: Applicant must fill out a WaterSense Toilet Rebate Form and return to the Portland Water Bureau no later than June 30, 2009. Applicant must receive water from the Portland Water Bureau and have an active Portland Water Bureau account that is in good standing. Applicant must own the property where the new toilet is being installed or obtain the signatur
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posted at 09:50 AM
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Nov 21,2008
Portland Water Bureau Turns Off Groundwater Supply
by jenniferd
The Portland Water Bureau turned off its groundwater supply system this morning. The system has supplied Water Bureau customers with drinking water since high levels of turbidity forced the bureau to turn off its primary Bull Run water supply last week. "This was an unusual run of groundwater." said Water Bureau Administrator David Shaff. "When intense rain in the Bull Run causes excessive turbidity, that rain is generally followed by more rain which flushes the turbidity out. In this case, there was no more rain, so the levels of turbidity in the watershed remained above acceptable serving levels. Flushing has taken a bit longer than normal." While both of the bureau's water sources, the Bull Run watershed and the Columbia South Shore Well Field (CSSWF) meet and exceed all federal drinking water standards, the bureau relies primarily on the Bull Run source to provider customers with drinking water. The CSSWF is maintained as an emergency back-up for event
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posted at 02:58 PM
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Nov 13,2008
Water Bureau Temporarily Turns Off Bull Run Water Supply
by jenniferd
The Water Bureau temporarily turned off the Bull Run water supply system this morning due to increased turbidity in the watershed. The bureau activated groundwater wells in the Columbia South Shore Well Field to temporarily serve water to Portland. Recent heavy rains and increased stream flows in the Bull Run watershed have contributed to this rapid increase in turbidity. Turbidity is a measurement of the cloudiness of (drinking) water by suspended particles. Portland is one of six large drinking water systems in the country that does not filter its water supply. The city is able to comply with federal drinking water regulations by continuously meeting a set of filtration avoidance criteria. Portland has been able to consistently meet these criteria, but it occasionally has to shut down the Bull Run system and operate from its backup groundwater supply when storms and other natural disturbances in the Bull Run reservoirs increase the turbidity. The Surface Water Treatment Rule
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posted at 10:32 AM
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Nov 3,2008
15 Mashup Tools for Your Local Neighborhood
by dariusmonsef
Want a donut? Want to know if you'll need an umbrella today? Trying to avoid traffic? Want to know if it's safe for your kids to play in the front yard? We'll look a dozen-ish mashups that provide useful, helpful, interesting and fun information about the local area that you you live in. For those asking what a mashup is? The web 2.0 world spawned thousands of social networks and user contributed content sites... The same world has connected even more sites and people with the ability for developers to take the APIs from a couple different sites and mash them together to create new and interesting ways to share information and data. WalkScore | Find What's In a Walkable Distance
"Walk Score shows you a map of what is nearby and calculates a Walk Score for any property. Buying a house in a walkable neighborhood is good for your health and good for the environment." Portland rates in their top 10 cities. You can even see their directory of Portl
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"Walk Score shows you a map of what is nearby and calculates a Walk Score for any property. Buying a house in a walkable neighborhood is good for your health and good for the environment." Portland rates in their top 10 cities. You can even see their directory of Portl
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posted at 08:15 AM
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Aug 27,2008
Presentation Leads Water Blogmistress to Strong Realization
by jenniferd
I had a really neat experience yesterday. I was invited to the adidas campus, located in North Portland, to talk about the excellent quality of Portland's tap water . The folks over at adidas have organized a group of "sustainability ambassadors," who are working to improve "green" practices at their company, from head to toe. The idea is that the ambassadors meet periodically and not only decide on changes they would like to implement company-wide, but also to learn information to transmit to co-workers. I spent about 1/2 hour talking to this group of people about Portland's great tap water and worked on dispelling many of the myths and fears that people have about drinking from the tap . I was delighted that they not only listened incredibly intently to my presentation, but they also asked some great follow-up questions. I could tell that this group was really thinking about what I had told them. They even invited me back for their health fair in October. T
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posted at 11:29 AM
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Aug 19,2008
Blog-Off Day 2: What Will Tuesday Bring to our Blog-Off Bloggers?
by jenniferd
Tuesday's Blog-Off Challenge sent by The Mercury's Amy Ruiz: This challenge is courtesy of a reader: "I'd like to hear a response plan from each agency on a Nessie-esque beast in the water reservoirs. Assume it is dangerous, eating skinny dippers, dragging dogs underwater, etc." News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information contact, August 19, 2008
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posted at 03:15 PM
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Aug 18,2008
Blogging on "The Blog-Off"
by jenniferd
Today is the first day of the rest of my blogging life -- The 2008 Blog-Off: Water Blog vs. Cross Blog . Today I will begin my first of five posts that puts those pesky Cross Bloggers in their place -- managing emergencies and begging for blood. Not blogging. Here's today's challenge and my instructions to you, faithful and loyal readers: Today's challenge presented by local media: Base a post on the following news article that's relevant to your organization. Difficulty level: Way easy http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/world/asia/19pstan.html?hp -Presented by Corey Pein of Willamette Week and Amy Ruiz of the Portland Mercury As I'm sure you already read a couple weeks ago, the Water Blog won the Mercury's pre-game, favorite blog contest , fair and square, so I know we can take the cake this week too. So, here's the skinny and how you can help -- Points are scored based on the number of comments coming in, positively assessing or jus
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posted at 03:48 PM
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Aug 10,2008
City Opens Nominations for 2008 Spirit of Portland Awards
by pearlgirl
Nominations are now being solicited for the City of Portland's annual Spirit of Portland Awards, which this year will add three new categories to the list-Emergency Preparedness, Public Involvement and Community Policing/Public Safety. The Awards are given to individuals, groups, neighborhoods, businesses, and volunteers and are one way the City recognizes the importance of community involvement in shaping the livability of Portland. The Mayor and City Commissioners will present awards sometime in mid December in the council chambers at City Hall. In addition to the new categories, awards will be given this year in: Humanitarian Effort, Independent Spirit, Community Harmony, Large Business, Small Business, Community Crime Prevention, Non-Profit Organization, Neighborhood of the Year, Outstanding Partnership, Employee Volunteer, and Youth Volunteer. There is also a Mayor's Award given annually to a person or group selected by Mayor Tom Potter.
The selection c
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posted at 09:24 AM
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Jul 13,2008
Voter Registration Portland
by pdxdog
Believe it or not, it's time to make sure everyone in Portland is a registered voter. Look for voter registration tables, go to the library or contact www.sos.state.or.us/elections/votreg We've heard that about 30% of our residents are not registered. If you've moved you need to re-register, if you're new to Oregon, you have to register, regardless of affiliation you have to register to vote in November. The General Election is historic for every one of us. So find that campaign office, go to the library or go online and register.
posted at 01:10 PM
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