Contaminant levels in local water remain low

GLENDALE — Contaminant levels in the 8.4 billion gallons of water delivered to Glendale Water & Power customers last year remained relatively low, even as the utility continued to cope with ongoing chromium 6 remediation and changing reporting requirements.

In the 2010 Water Quality Report mailed to customers this month, Glendale Water & Power officials acknowledged that they didn’t complete sampling of E.coli at distribution stations in North Glendale due to a change in the collection process that required them to gather samples within 24 hours.

Crews had been testing the water in that area after they found a total coliform-positive sample, which can indicate fecal contamination. Numerous follow up samples have indicated the water is safe, said Dan Askenaizer, the utility’s water quality manager.

“It was a new regulation and it sort of hadn’t been worked into the process,” he said.

On the whole, Glendale’s water system got a clean report after utility crews took thousands of samples in 2010 that showed chemical amounts were below or within average ranges at municipal water facilities.

“The water is good,” Askenaizer said. “The water is safe. It meets all standards. I think that’s the bottom line.”

Customers also used far less of it. As water conservation rules took hold in 2010, Glendale Water & Power delivered 760 million fewer gallons of water than in 2009, when the utility delivered 9.16 billion gallons.

Glendale officials also continue to work with a coalition of private and public stakeholders on groundbreaking methods for stripping chromium 6 from local aquifers. Local water has small amounts of chromium 6 due to a decades-old contamination in the San Fernando industrial corridor.

Officials have assured customers that there is no health risk since the contaminated water is blended with the clean imports from the Metropolitan Water District.

Of the billions of gallons delivered to local customers in 2010, 62% came from Metropolitan, 31% was delivered from the Glendale Water Treatment Plant and 7% from the Glorietta Wells and the Verdugo Park Water Treatment Plant.

Glendale has been working to increase the amount of local water production to reduce its reliance on more expensive imports.

Crews reconstructed the Foothill Well, which Askenaizer said has been in service since May.

The utility is also in the process of creating a second well on a portion of the Rockhaven Sanitarium property that could be in service in early 2012.