Oregon Public Broadcasting

 A day after Portland leaders lifted the city’s first-ever boil water order, the water bureau plans to change its response for future incidents.

Administrator David Shaff told OPB's Think Out Loud Monday at least two things will change.

He says if E. coli ever appeared around a holiday again, he would bring people in right away to re-test, rather than wait a day, as the water bureau did on Thanksgiving.

Shaff also said that in the future, contaminated reservoirs would be taken off-line immediately.

David Shaff: "If we were to have another event like this, that would probably be our first step is to take the reservoir off-line, bypass the reservoir, rather than wait for that second confirming test."

Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard said Sunday the city responded appropriately.

Shaff says the bureau’s response was guided in part by history. Of 14 initial positive test results for E. coli over the years, all but this one came back negative on a second test.

Health officials say they have no evidence that the E. coli bacteria sickened anyone.

The city is currently draining the affected reservoir and investigating the cause of the bacteria.