Background
In July 2015, the Portland City Council directed the Water Bureau to work with the Mount Tabor Neighborhood Association (MTNA) to manage the quantity and quality of water in the Mount Tabor open reservoirs. Prior to 2016, the reservoirs were connected and in service as part of the potable water system. They were typically drained, cleaned, and refilled twice per year (once in spring and once in fall). There have been many changes to Water Bureau operations at Mount Tabor in the past few years, particularly with the disconnection of the open reservoirs from the water system. A maintenance plan will ensure the reservoirs meet water quality standards.
- Draining: When the reservoirs were connected to the system, instead of draining a large volume of water from the reservoirs directly into the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) sewer/stormater collection system, most of the water in the reservoirs was delivered to customers and to other lower-elevation reservoirs. Now that the reservoirs are disconnected, all the water will need to be drained into the sewer/stormwater system. We're trying to reduce the amount of water that goes into the BES system and are working with MTNA to develop new protocols for how frequently we drain the reservoirs.
- Cleaning: We don't have to keep the water clean enough to drink, but we do want to maintain the water at the levels specified by City Council. After disconnecting the reservoirs, we tested the water quality periodically over the first three years to check that algae, chlorophyll, chlorine, pH, temperature, and turbidity were all within expected ranges. Now, we only test as needed.
- Refilling: We want to conserve both staff time and water. To that aim, we're developing protocols that reduce how often we clean the reservoirs.
The cycle of draining, cleaning, and refilling takes several weeks. Also, the weather affects our ability to do this work. If heavy rainfall is expected, we postpone the work so we don’t overburden the sewer system.
Reservoir cleaning schedule
We drain, clean, and refill the Mount Tabor reservoirs on a regular schedule. We do this to protect the quality of the nonpotable water in the reservoirs and to conduct inspections of reservoir conditions. The current schedule for draining, cleaning, and refilling the reservoirs follows.
- Cleanings every second year: We purposefully delayed the annual cleaning of Reservoir 5 in 2018 until March 2019 to learn more about what would happen if the reservoirs were cleaned every two years rather than annually. This reduced the overall amount of water drained and needed to refill the reservoir, and no negative water qualities were observed or reported during that time. We cleaned the reservoirs again in 2021. Going forward, each reservoir will be cleaned every two years. The next cleaning is expected to take place in 2023.
- Fewer reservoir refills during dry months: During 2019, we explored what would happen if we stopped refilling the water in Reservoir 5 during the dry summer months, when the City was supplementing its water supply with groundwater from the Columbia South Shore Well Field. We monitored how water evaporation affected the look of the reservoir to make sure that the historic views were not compromised. At its lowest, Reservoir 5 was 71.5 percent full on November 18, 2019, which is within an allowable range.
All three reservoirs were allowed to partially evaporate in 2020.
The Water Bureau, MTNA, Friends of Mt. Tabor and Portland Parks and Recreation are working together to review the management plan annually and make adjustments as needed.
What about Reservoir 6?
All three reservoirs at Mount Tabor were drained for maintenance during the spring of 2021. During the cleaning process, the Water Bureau’s Dam Safety Group used ground penetrating radar (GPR) equipment to inspect for evidence of voids (holes) beneath the concrete on the bottom of the reservoir. This investigation showed that there are voids underneath portions of Reservoir 6. Read more about why Reservoir 6 is empty.
Temporary draining of Reservoir 5
On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, we began draining Reservoir 5 to investigate and repair a possible leak in the reservoir liner.
Why is this happening?
Our crews have seen unexpected water coming from one of the reservoir drains recently. This water drainage may be from a leak in the reservoir lining. We’re draining the reservoir so we can look for any leaks and repair them while the weather is still dry.
What’s going to happen next?
We started draining the Reservoir on Wednesday, September 28. It will take 8-10 days to fully drain the reservoir. Once empty, we will clean the reservoir (planned for the week of October 10). After cleaning, we will inspect the liner for leaks (planned for the week of October 17). The timeline for repairing any leaks and refilling the reservoir will depend on the results of the inspection. We will update this webpage as new information becomes available.