San Francisco Water Planner Suspended For Urinating In Reservoir

Reservoirs and urinals are not the same thing. Though seemingly obvious, this point seems to have eluded a mid-level San Francisco water manager this year.

"San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokesman Tyrone Jue said [this month] that the agency confirmed anonymous complaints that maintenance planner Martin Sanchez had urinated in the 674-million-gallon reservoir in the Sierra Nevada foothills early last month," the Associated Press reported.

Public health was not placed in danger, the report said, noting that the reservoir had been drained for maintenance.

"There is no public health risk to be concerned about because the reservoir was not in use and the fact [is] any water would have been treated anyway," Jue said, per CNN. "Still, his actions are completely unacceptable."

San Francisco depends heavily on reservoir water.

"The Priest Reservoir is a 674 million-gallon basin, located about 150 miles east of San Francisco, that provides water for 2.6 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area. The water in the reservoir is untreated and disinfected with chlorine and ultraviolet light before it reaches customers," CNN reported.

How was the employee caught?

"An anonymous complaint to higher-ups [alleged] that a number of employees had seen Sanchez urinate 'several times' in the reservoir — including the day they learned he had passed an interview for a management promotion and that they would soon be reporting to him," the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

San Francisco is not alone in facing this issue.

"Last April, Portland, Oregon, [dumped] 38 million gallons of water from a reservoir after a teen urinated in it. A security camera captured the 19-year-old, with the help of two friends, climbing a fence surrounding the reservoir and, ahem, taking care of business," CNN reported.