Benson bubbler

[hymalaia]

Originally Posted by griz134

Drink up. I would rather drink out of the river. I don't care how much chlorine you add to saliva, pigeon droppings, and foot fungus. Who knows what they're used for at night time. Toilets perhaps?

you act like this is going on in the fountains 24/7; yea disgusting things might happen occasionally but the water is always running, washing the germs away! Well, even if not, the old immune system could use some work. When a giant pandemic gets unleashed, people like yourself are going to be the first to go, and it's going to be your own damn fault. You can't avoid germs. Though I suppose if you take your attitude towards the bubblers towards your daily life, I can see your fear making sense. Personally though, my immune system can take it. Now drinking out of the river, I don't think I could handle that.

btw, our biggest "icon" is most likely Mt. Hood. Didn't even cost anything!

[subsound]

I don't think I could touch the fountains and the little things. Nice to look at, but once the 400 pound homeless guy was bathing in it went all my thoughts of ever touching these things.

[pdxscott09]

Benson Bubblers

"
Bubblers are Portland's iconic drinking fountains. The city currently boasts 52 of the fountains and
74 one-bowl variations. Though the single-bowl variations look like Benson Bubblers, they are not. In fact, in the 1970's, the Benson family asked that the installation of the four-bowl fountains be limited to certain downtown boundaries so as not to diminish the uniqueness of them.

And while most Benson Bubblers are, indeed, downtown, there are a couple of notable exceptions.

1. In 1965, the City of Portland presented a Bubbler to Yosaku Harada, mayor of Portland's sister city, Sapporo, Japan.
2. Sam Maryhill, a friend to Simon Benson, asked to have a Bubbler installed at his Maryhill Museum of Art.

Benson Bubblers are made of copper, but years of weathering give them that eye-catching patina finish that makes them so beautiful and green. Patina is a thin layer of brown and greenish oxides that takes years to build up. Well meaning citizens have "cleaned" off the patina more than once over the years, but the Water Bureau has always restored the patina finish, preferring it to they shiny copper.

Bubbler Facts

• The Bubblers flow freely from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., daily.
• The fountains run 365 days per year unless a cold snap or excessively windy weather forces the Water Bureau to temporarily shut them down.
• The fountains are cleaned bi-monthly.
• The fountains serve up Bull Run drinking water!"

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by hymalaia

you act like this is going on in the fountains 24/7; yea disgusting things might happen occasionally but the water is always running, washing the germs away! Well, even if not, the old immune system could use some work. When a giant pandemic gets unleashed, people like yourself are going to be the first to go, and it's going to be your own damn fault. You can't avoid germs. Though I suppose if you take your attitude towards the bubblers towards your daily life, I can see your fear making sense. Personally though, my immune system can take it. Now drinking out of the river, I don't think I could handle that.

btw, our biggest "icon" is most likely Mt. Hood. Didn't even cost anything!

Said perfectly.

Originally Posted by griz134

I'll never drink from one. Recycled drinking water? Baths for homeless people and pigeons. I've showed the bubblers to my out of town friends, and they can't believe the city thinks of them as icons. NY has the Empire State building, St. Louis the Gateway Arch, San Francisco has the Golden Gate bridge, and we have bubblers. Portland needs a real icon that identifys the city.

Portland doesn't need to wh*re itself and sell out like every other big city has (Seattle, anyone?). Portland is wonderful and needs nothing as a "real icon" because it's a "real city." If anything, its "icon" would be the natural beauty that surrounds Portland. I think you fail to realize that the bubblers are not intended to be the centerpiece of the city, unlike these other "icons". Portland just is what it is, and what it is is a great city.

I would never drink out of the bubblers by the way, but I love that they're there. They add some charm. They're just drinking fountains and part of the city's heritage. No need to attack them. They are what they are. And let people do what they will, whether they drink from them or stay the hell away.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

Cranky residents seem to be our main centerpiece.

Sad, but true.

[PNW-type-gal]

I like the beautiful little bubblers - miniature fountains. No, I wouldn't drink from one, but I like to look at them. I also love all the bronze animals - I rub the nose of the seals at Pioneer Square every time I walk past.

We don't have a lot of "serious art and architecture" in downtown Portland, but what we have makes me smile as I walk past.

[Lilly12103]

Originally Posted by subsound

I don't think I could touch the fountains and the little things. Nice to look at, but once the 400 pound homeless guy was bathing in it went all my thoughts of ever touching these things.

I am loving picturing a 400 lb homeless person perched atop a fountain to bathe in it. Splashing water on himself maybe? I'm pretty spritely, but I'm not sure I'd be dextrous enough to take a bath in one of those!

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by Lilly12103

I am loving picturing a 400 lb homeless person perched atop a fountain to bathe in it. Splashing water on himself maybe? I'm pretty spritely, but I'm not sure I'd be dextrous enough to take a bath in one of those!

Does create quite the mental image, though, doesn't it.

[rosecitywanderer]

I've drank from them on several occasions. And despite this pesky third arm I've grown that seems to have a mind of its own, I've noticed no ill side effects.

[subsound]

Originally Posted by Lilly12103

I am loving picturing a 400 lb homeless person perched atop a fountain to bathe in it. Splashing water on himself maybe? I'm pretty spritely, but I'm not sure I'd be dextrous enough to take a bath in one of those!

Trying and succeeding are two separate things, but he was trying his best...it was horrifying....

Many more were so in that waterfall in front of Keller....

Now I need a mental enema!