Water Safe to Drink, Despite Earthy, Musty Smell; Consumers Affected in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 2004--The persistent growth of blue-green algae in the State Water Project's Castaic Lake continues to result in drinking water that is safe to drink, but unpleasant to taste and smell.

"The state Department of Water Resources has been asked to treat Castaic Lake a second time, and we will work with them to schedule that as soon as possible," said Jill T. Wicke, water system operations manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

“The state Department of Water Resources has been asked to treat Castaic Lake a second time, and we will work with them to schedule that as soon as possible”

Metropolitan receives some of its water supplies from Castaic Lake, filters and disinfects it, and then delivers it to water agencies throughout the region.

"Although it has a musty taste and scent that aren't pleasant, the water is not a health hazard and is safe to drink," Wicke said. "Unfortunately, we aren't able to correct the problem in our treatment plants, but we are retrofitting our filtration plants with an ozone process that will help eliminate these problems in the future."

Wicke said DWR treated the lake's algae on June 10, and Metropolitan made operational changes at several of its treatment plants to minimize the problem.

Since then, residents of Los Angeles and Ventura counties particularly have noticed the unpleasant taste and odor of the water, and have contacted their local water agencies.

The cause is a compound called geosmin that is produced by the growth of algae in freshwaters. Typically, levels of the compound increase in summer months when the warmer weather accelerates the growth of algae.

People with sensitive palettes can detect geosmin in water at levels as low as 5 parts-per-trillion. Drinking water recently treated at Metropolitan's Joseph Jensen Filtration Plant in Granada Hills had geosmin levels over 20 parts-per-trillion.

Since the recent operational changes, Metropolitan member water agencies impacted by the problem include the cities of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Compton, Glendale, San Fernando, Santa Monica and Torrance, as well as the Central Basin and West Basin municipal water districts in Los Angeles County, and Calleguas Municipal Water District and Las Virgenes Municipal Water District in Ventura County.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 18 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other water-management programs.