Los Angeles County Water Quality: Good News

Finally, some good news. Well, this report is nearly 2 months old, but I think we need some good news right now.

As I mentioned before, I am the Natural Resources chair for the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles County. I write a monthly roundup about environmental issues for LWV voters and opportunities for action. The LWV LA County board meets on the first week of each month, so I wrote this roundup at the end of February/beginning of March. If you want to get on the dissemination list for the monthly reports, leave a comment with your email address. This is just the part that pertains to water.

Executive Summary

LA county drinking water supply is exceptionally safe compared to the rest of the country and state, but arsenic and coliform bacteria contamination of rural drinking water supplies on the northern edge of the county is a concern. Water affordability is a major problem everywhere but Sacramento is working on it. We should prepare for another drought year.

Longer Story

The UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation published a major water report:
Community Water Systems in Los Angeles County: A Performance Policy Guide

LA County drinking water supply is generally very safe and much safer than other parts of the country and CA. Primary Health Maximum Contamination Load (MCL) violations are exceptionally low and concentrated in rural sites along the northern border of LA county.

[In general, rural water systems struggle the most under the burdens of agricultural and mining contamination, naturally occurring arsenic and selenium, and the cost of running longer pipes between low-density housing developments.]

See the green line bouncing near zero at the bottom, that's LA County.  With 10 Million people, we have a pretty big denominator.

The Antelope Valley Times breaks it down further. Only 5 water systems, with about 1,600 total customers, were unable to meet safety standards for levels of naturally-occurring arsenic.  (All water systems met the other safety criteria.)  "Each of them has agreed to provide alternate drinking water to customers until the systems are able to serve water that meets standards."

All 5 systems rely on wells and are near the northern edge of LA county and 4 of the 5 are mobile home parks.  Assuming an average household size of 3, that's less than 5,000 out of 10 million people whose tap water is unsafe.

That's still too many, but the number has been going down as smaller, poorer water systems are merged into larger and wealthier ones.  Thus, the cost of securing and distributing clean water can be shared between more customers.

John Fleck's book, Water is for Fighting Over and Other Myths about Water in the West, has a chapter of how Los Angeles county cities cooperated and managed groundwater for the common good (starting in the 1940s!) The rest of the state is struggling (unsuccessfully) with their own Groundwater Management Plans 80 years later.

When I went to meetings with pro-environmental groups, I've heard people decry water contamination and bandy about talking points that are not supported by evidence.  One woman exclaimed that jet fuel and other chemicals have been found in groundwater everywhere.  I tried to rebut that, but no one in the room wanted to hear it.  So I'm going to vent now.

• There are a few places where groundwater is contaminated, but they have mostly been cleaned up or are in the process of being cleaned up or contained.
• Well water is regularly tested in LA County.  If it is contaminated, the well is no longer used and the source of the contamination is investigated and cleaned up.
• If the groundwater beneath your area is contaminated, your tap water is imported from other areas with cleaner and safe water (except for the 1600 households mentioned above)
• Tap water is regularly tested and the results are sent to each household in your water bills.
• The main problem with our local water supply is the hardness (Total Dissolved Solids aka TDS).  I use a Brita filter to remove some of the TDS and chlorine smell for the water I drink. 
• My landscaping plants prefer soft rainwater over hard tap water.  We try to harvest runoff from rooftops and the driveway and direct that into the landscaping. This reduces salt build up in the soil and the amount of irrigation water that we use.  Win-win!

So why are so many people buying bottled water?

Truck drivers are risking their lives to keep our stores stocked with necessities.  Grocery workers are dying of coronavirus.  Do not put them at risk to haul, stock and sell stuff that you don't need, like bottled water.  Drink tap water.

Use a filter (if you have it) or just fill containers with tap water after you do the dishes and let the water sit over night.  The chlorine taste will dissipate and the water will taste fine.

In the words of Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, Silveria E Jacobs, the water is not going to stop.

Her full address is posted on YouTube. She comes on around minute 23. The famous clip starts at minute 60:


This is not a hurricane. The water is not going to stop. Don't rush to buy water. Buy enough food and toilet paper to last for one to two weeks.

"If you do not have the type of bread you like in your house, eat crackers. If you do not have bread, eat cereal. Eat oats."

Similarly, Coronavirus is not an earthquake. Yes, you should have a few gallons of water per person in your earthquake kit. But you do not need to purchase more bottled water right now. Drink tap water and you may save the life of an essential worker.

Off soapbox. Now go wash your hands.