Regulatory Compliance

LADWP works around the clock to ensure that the drinking water we deliver to our customers is of the highest quality and meets all safety requirements. Highly trained, certified treatment operators monitor our water treatment operations continuously, thereby helping meet federal and state standards for drinking water. In 2023, we tested for more than 200 constituents in the water and performed more than 106,000 tests on samples taken throughout our water system. LADWP complied with all the primary drinking water standards in 2023.

In June and August of 2023, LADWP detected chlorate above the CA notification level of 800 parts per billion (ppb) in the Griffith Park area of the water distribution system. Chlorate was detected above the notification level at the Griffith Park Crystal Springs Pump Station in samples collected in June and August 2023 and at the Griffith Park Travel Town Pump Station in June 2023. The highest of these values was 913 in August 2023 at the Crystal Springs Pump Station. A notification level is a health based advisory level, but not an enforceable standard.

Griffith Park is a small, isolated section of the overall water distribution system that serves transient visitors and does not serve residences. It is the only portion of the distribution system that utilizes chlorine disinfection. The chlorate forms due to a combination of age and temperature of the sodium hypchlorite solution used in the chlorine disinfection process. In response to this, LADWP is making improvements to the storage procedures and climate controls to reduce chlorate levels.

Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Drinking Water in California

Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic (man-made) chemicals which include Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanoic sulfonic acid (PFOS). This category of manufactured chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s have characteristics that make them useful in a variety of products, including nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, and firefighting foam, as well as in certain manufacturing processes. PFAS tends to break down very slowly in the environment, and most U.S. manufacturers voluntarily phased out production of PFOS between 2000 and 2002, and PFOA in 2006.

Studies indicate potential health consequences from exposure to significant levels of PFAS. Health effects may include high cholesterol, liver, and thyroid cancer risks, immunotoxicity, pregnancy-induced hypertension, low birth weights, and decreased fertility. More information is available on the U.S. EPA’s website Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS.

The SWRCB-DDW has been actively investigating and sampling for PFAS since 2019. Updated drinking water response levels were set at 10 parts per trillion for PFOA and 40 parts per trillion for PFOS as well as for Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) and Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) at 5,000 parts per trillion and 20 parts per trillion respectively. In 2022, the SWRCB-DDW issued a new PFAS Monitoring Order in which compliance began in the first quarter of 2023 to monitor for these 4 PFAS chemicals as well as 21 others.

On April 10, 2024, the U.S. EPA announced the final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six PFAS.

The U.S. EPA also issued the fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5) to improve U.S. EPA’s understanding of the frequency that 29 PFAS are found in the nation’s drinking water systems. LADWP started collecting samples under UCMR5 in 2023.

LADWP has continued to monitor its groundwater sources for PFAS since it began testing in 2013 and has analyzed hundreds of samples utilizing EPA approved testing methods. LADWP has not detected any PFAS compounds regulated by the State of California, or the U.S. EPA, in samples taken at entry points to the distribution system. LADWP’s ongoing monitoring program and commitment to water quality and safety ensure that our water meets or exceeds all regulatory standards. For more information on LADWP’s ongoing monitoring program and PFAS initiatives, please visit https://www.ladwp.com/residential-services/water-quality/water-quality-news.

If you have questions, please contact our Water Quality Hotline at (213) 367-3182 or email us at waterqualityoffice@ladwp.com.

Compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule in Los Angeles

LADWP has a long and successful history of controlling corrosion and minimizing lead exposure to customers. Between 1978 and 2006, LADWP cleaned and cement-lined approximately 2,600 miles of unlined iron pipes (greater than four inches in diameter). LADWP initiated another program in 1998 to replace low-lead (8 percent lead) water meters with lead-free (0.25 percent lead) water meters. LADWP was one of the first utilities to incorporate this lead-free standard. As of December 2023, more than 550,000 of the roughly 700,000 active water meters in LADWP’s water distribution system have been replaced. In another proactive effort, LADWP’s staff had located and removed approximately 12,000 known lead goosenecks from its water distribution system by the year 2005. SWRCB-DDW has evaluated LADWP’s corrosion control program and deemed the system to be optimized for corrosion control.

LADWP conducted the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) in residential sampling in 2023. This LCR tap water sampling program focuses on single family residences built between 1982 to 1987, which are expected to have copper pipes plumbed with lead solder. Customers with qualifying homes that participate in the sampling program had their tap water tested for lead and copper at no cost. During the 2023 sampling program, 106 first draw samples were obtained from customers’ homes and analyzed at LADWP’s Water Quality Laboratory in Pasadena. The results showed a 90th percentile of 3.9 ppb (parts per billion) for lead and 529 ppb for copper. Both values were well below the respective Action Levels of 15 ppb for lead and 1,300 ppb for copper. The next LCR sampling round will be conducted in 2026.