Sewer Water Plan Explained Tonight

The Department of Water and Power will host a public meeting tonight in Arleta to describe its proposal to convert sewage water into drinking water, the first of eight community meetings announced Tuesday.

The meeting will be at the Anthony Office Building, 8501 Arleta Ave., Sun Valley, from 6 to 8 p.m.

The announcement of public meetings follows a Los Angeles City Council committee hearing Monday at which the DWP came under fire from city officials and some residents who criticized the department for not clearly describing its $55-million East Valley Water Reclamation Project.

Councilmen Joel Wachs and Mark Ridley-Thomas both said the DWP could have done a broader outreach to Los Angeles to fully explain how the project would add reclaimed water to the city’s drinking supplies. The reclaimed water project has been in the planning and construction stages for years and is ready, but has not yet begun, to treat sewage.

The other community meetings are scheduled for:

* Monday, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, 5931 W. 18th St.

* June 15, Hollywood Multipurpose Room, 6501 Fountain Ave.

* June 19, DWP Crenshaw Auditorium, 4030 Crenshaw Blvd.

* June 20, Reseda High School, Regent Hall, 18230 Kittridge St.

* June 22, West Los Angeles Multipurpose Room, 7166 W. Manchester Ave.

* June 26, Chatsworth High School, 10027 Lurline Ave.

* June 29, Millikan Middle School, 5041 Sunnyslope Ave., Sherman Oaks.