This list of Seven Wonders was selected from a popular vote by Portland Water Bureau employees. Nominated elements had to meet the criteria of (1) man-made and (2) unique to the Portland water system.

 

Before the Bull Run reservoirs and well fields were built, the Water Bureau depended solely on "run of the river" stream flow at Headworks for its water supply. As the city’s population grew, the run of the river was not enough.

 

In 1929 the bureau built Dam 1 as a storage facility in Bull Run, creating Reservoir 1 (also known as Lake Ben Morrow). Total storage capacity of Reservoir 1 is 9.9 billion gallons.

Hundreds of employees worked to build the dam.

 

The hydraulic pump affectionately known as "Thumper" is thought to be the oldest operating piece of city equipment. Thumper was installed in 1894 in Pump House 1 at Washington Park. The flow of water from the upper to lower reservoir in Washington Park drives the Pelton wheel known as Thumper. Thumper pumps water to tanks in the west hills. Thumper's name derives from the characteristic thump/whump sound of this big pump.

 

Distribution storage reservoirs at Mt. Tabor and Washington Parks receive water from the terminal storage reservoirs by gravity flow or pumping. This water then is delivered directly to customers. With their picturesque structures and decorative wrought iron fences and lamp posts, the reservoirs are popular in the community.

 

Thirty miles of supply conduits carry water from the Bull Run Watershed into town. This critical element of our water supply and distribution is elegantly simple -- water flows downhill by gravity. Continuous inspection and maintetenance is performed by highly skilled employees.

 

Simon Benson was a turn-of-the-century lumber baron, philanthropist and teetotaller. To provide fresh drinking water downtown - and discourage his workers from drinking alcohol in the middle of the day - Benson commissioned 20 elegant freshwater drinking fountains, now known as the Benson Bubblers. Beer consumption in the city reportedly decreased 25 percent after the fountains were installed, and the water fountains still bubble invitingly on Portland’s downtown streets.

 

The Portland Water Bureau’s Columbia South Shore Well Field is the second largest water supply in Oregon after the Bull Run Watershed. The Well Field consists of about 27 groundwater wells that pump water from three aquifers located in a five square mile area on the south shore of the Columbia River. Development of the well field started in 1975. The wells began serving drinking water customers for the first time in the summer of 1985.

Groundwater wells supplement drinking water supply in summer and early fall as needed depending on weather. During drier than normal summers, the groundwater supply helps ensure that we have enough water for customers and also enough to release clean, cold water into the river when fish are spawning.

 

The Well Field is an emergency backup supply when the Bull Run water becomes unavailable. For example, four large storms in the last two decades have resulted in increased turbidity (suspended sediment) levels in the Bull Run reservoirs.

 

Bull Run Dam 2 was completed in 1962. Total storage capacity in Reservoir 2 is 6.8 billion gallons. Below the dam on Reservoir 2 is the chlorination facility. The water isn’t filtered, but it is disinfected with chloramines.

 

Sarah Bott

Senior Community Outreach & Information Representative