The reason cranky adults yell things like “Get off my lawn!” at teenagers isn’t just to protect that lawn. No, we’ve learned in our wise old age that it’s just easier than yelling “Please think about your decisions and how they will affect those around you before you do something just because you think it’s funny!” Case in point: A 19-year-old who’s wasted 38 million gallons of drinking water just because he apparently thought it’d be hilarious to pee in it.

Water bureau officials in Portland, OR are beyond peeved at the teen who they say was caught urinating through an iron fence at a water reservoir in the wee hours of Wednesday, reports NBC News. Two others are seen on camera trying to scale a fence.

And rather than cross their fingers and hope that those millions of gallons of treated drinking water are just fine — usually a little bit of pee in so much water wouldn’t pose a risk to the public — officials decided it’s better to drain than be sorry. Just imagine dumping out 57 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

“Our customers have an expectation that their water is not deliberately contaminated. We have the ability to meet that expectation while minimizing public health concerns,” David Shaff, Portland Water Bureau administrator, said in a statement.

There will still be plenty of water to drink, he added, and that particular reservoir has been taken offline during testing.

The suspects have been cited for trespassing, with the alleged peer getting an additional citation for public urination. The county district attorney’s office is mulling whether to press criminal charges as well.

You can see the kid pretty clearly cozying up to the fence to do his business, it would seem, around the 2:00 mark in the surveillance video below.

Portland Reservoir to be Drained After Teen Pees in Water [NBC News]

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