Tests Confirm Safe Canyon Tap Water, According to LADWP
By Chad Billmyer
Special to Canyon News
(The Canyon News approach to coverage of environmental issues can be found here.)
The most recent round of water samples continue to show that tap water in Santa Monica Canyon is safe to drink as well as use for all purposes, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).
On Feb. 25, LADWP declared the water safe to drink in Santa Monica Canyon. The most recent round of tests on Mar. 7 continued to show municipal water was free of 30 different microbiological and volatile organic compounds.
Previously, on Jan. 10, LADWP issued a “Do Not Drink” Notice in response to the State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water’s (CA-DDW) Wildfire Order. The "Do Not Drink" order covered all of Santa Monica Canyon. The Canyon is split across two pressure zones, 310 and 529.
"Within every pressurized pipe network, whether natural gas, hazardous liquid, water, or district energy, there are one or more pressure zones,” said Tom DeWitte, an Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) contributing writer. “Pressure zones are foundational to the engineering and operation of pressurized pipe networks. A formal definition defines a pressure zone as a distinct subset of the pipe network where a minimum and maximum pressure range is maintained by pressure-controlling devices."
The 310 zone roughly covers the mouth of the canyon, Lower Santa Monica Canyon, and Lower Rustic Canyon. The 529 zone roughly covers Upper Rustic Canyon and Upper Santa Monica Canyon.
In an email to The Canyon Alliance, Nareen Manookian, an LADWP Water Quality Customer Care Inspector, shared, "The testing was done based on regulatory practices for post-wildfire sampling and was determined based on damages sustained per pressure zone.... We are continuously sampling the water throughout our distribution systems for all our customers, and the data gets compiled online via a Water Quality Report. At any point if anything harmful for public consumption/health is detected, our affected customers would be immediately notified."
If residents have not yet returned to their property, when they do return, LADWP encourages a flushing process. You can find the LADWP guide to flushing the water pipes at your property at this web page.
Canyon residents can find their zone and view the latest test results for Zones 310 and 529 at this dashboard.
Related links:
https://community.esri.com/t5/gas-and-pipeline-blog/understanding-pressure-zones/ba-p/1416830
