Water Filter News

In Los Angeles, two reservoirs that supply drinking water to parts of eastern and central have been shut down after found responsive for cancer causing chemical, Department of Water and Power officials said.

The cause behind contamination of water can be the reaction between sunlight and chlorine, which is a rare case, utility officials added.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power plans to drain 600 million gallons from the reservoirs, the Elysian and the Silver Lake, early next year, said a water department spokesman, Joseph Ramallo. The reservoirs will be out of use for three to four months amid drought conditions.

High levels of the carcinogen bromate were found in early October by a commercial customer who ran a laboratory test, officials said. The utility confirmed the finding, immediately removed the reservoirs from service and notified the Department of Public Health.

“The formation of bromate from the chemical reaction in the reservoirs was unusual and unexpected,” said Lea Brooks, spokeswoman for the state’s Public Health Department. And, chemical is dangerous only after long-term consumption, officials emphasized.

The two reservoirs supply the water for about one-third of 1 percent of the city’s annual consumption, or about the amount the entire city consumes in a day, Mr. Ramallo said. Some water from the reservoirs may be used for irrigation or firefighting, but none will be used for human consumption. The rest will be dumped into the Los Angeles River, which drains into the Pacific Ocean.

L.A. has the nation’s largest system of reservoirs that store treated water before distribution, but federal water regulations require the city to phase those out in favor of tanks or covered reservoirs to protect drinking water from contamination.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 5:28 am and is filed under Health, Water Filters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.