Statement Regarding 99th Street Wells & Public Water Quality Notification Letter

This facility is one of many water treatment plants located across the City. It is remotely monitored from a central control location along with other water treatment plants by operators on duty 24-hours a day. Under normal operating conditions, the water at this facility is treated continuously. However, on the night of January 15, 2016, between approximately 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., a water treatment pump malfunctioned and six hours passed between treatments. An automated alarm functioned as designed to alert the water treatment operator, but it was missed by the operator on duty, resulting in delayed response. When the problem was discovered at approximately 1 a.m. water operations staff responded to the site and fixed the treatment equipment. This treatment lapse resulted in a technical violation of water quality regulations, which requires public notification of all customers served by the 99^th Street Well Treatment Facility.

We want our customers to know that the water served from this facility is safe to drink and meets all state and federal health guidelines. While the 99^th Street Well water did not meet the standard for groundwater treatment due to the lapse in treatment, routine bacteriological sampling of the affected area before and after the incident showed no detectable bacteria or other water quality concern. Additionally, the time of the lapse in treatment (9pm – 3am) is a time of day when customers use the least amount of drinking water and the incident was fully resolved that evening.

In accordance with regulations, LADWP has mailed a notification letter to approximately 20,000 customers in the service area. To further ensure a violation of this nature does not occur again, LADWP has increased monitoring and preventive maintenance at the facility and corrective action (or disciplinary action) is being taken against personnel involved in the incident. To further improve operations at the treatment facility, LADWP plans to replace the 99^th Street Wells Water Treatment facility with a new facility. Design of the new facility is complete and construction will begin in June with the facility slated for completion by late 2018.

Customers within the impacted area do not need to use an alternate water supply, such as bottled water. This notification, mailed to customers, is for informational purposes only, in accordance with State regulations.

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