School toilet water cleaner than fountains

NORTH BEND, Ore., June 12 (UPI) -- A 13-year-old Oregon student has embarrassed his technical school by proving water in the toilets is cleaner than what comes out of drinking fountains.

The presentation this month by Kyleray Katherman at the Oregon Coast Technology School, a charter facility in North Bend, sent officials scrambling, the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard reported.

While Katherman was working on an English project, he went scientific with the project and swabbed the spigots of four fountains as well as one sample from a toilet.

Applying the science-heavy curriculum to the testing, he grew cultures in Petri dishes and made the discovery the toilet water was cleanest, and showed his results with a PowerPoint presentation.

His teacher and classmates were shocked, and school administrators ordered the spigots removed and thoroughly cleaned, the report said.

Katherman is one of the students who opposes the school's ban on bringing water bottles into classes. Bottles were banned when students were caught bringing in alcohol four years ago.