Council Backs Increase in L.A. Water Rates

The City Council on Wednesday gave initial approval to increasing water rates for Los Angeles residents and businesses by an average of 5.5%, in part to improve water quality -- but not before one council member said he preferred bottled water.

The increase, 2.75% this year and the same amount next year, would add $12 to the monthly water bill for the average home by the second year, if it receives a second vote of approval from the council next week.

The council voted 11 to 0 to approve the hikes after Department of Water and Power General Manager Ronald Deaton said the $35 million that will be raised is needed to meet new water quality and security requirements, including the covering of six reservoirs.

“You have to be concerned about terrorists and the birds,” Deaton said, explaining why the reservoirs must be covered.

Despite the assurances that steps were being taken to protect the quality of city water, Councilman Bill Rosendahl said he avoids tap water at home.

“By the time it comes to my tap, I don’t drink it anymore. I’ve got bottled water. I spend a lot of money on bottled water,” he told Deaton. “Am I wrong on that?”

Deaton jumped to the defense of the quality of his agency’s water.

“I don’t know why you do it and yes, you are wrong,” Deaton told the councilman. “I’m dead serious. There is no reason in this city to drink bottled water rather than tap water. We meet every standard. It is safe water and it is good water and it is good-tasting water.”

Rosendahl said the taste of tap water in his Venice-area home is “less appealing” than the bottled water he spends $100 a month on, and he blamed old pipes on the Westside as well as chemicals that the DWP adds to the water.

Deaton said tap water is subject to strict standards that are not uniformly applied to bottled water.

Deaton’s defense comes months after The Times reported that his agency spent more than $31,000 on bottled water, mostly for remote locations. After that report, the agency discontinued the practice.

Even so, dozens of large bottles of water are delivered each week by private companies to City Hall offices of other departments.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn sided with Deaton on Wednesday.

“A lot of people drink bottled water, but when I have an opportunity, whether it’s my own home or at a restaurant in the city, I always order the tap water, because I think it is safe,” Hahn said.

The councilwoman praised Deaton for first discussing the proposed rate increases with the city’s neighborhood councils.

Originally, the agency had sought 7.4% over two years, but scaled back its demands after a series of hearings with neighborhood councils and an exercise that found ways to cut the budget by $42 million.