LA to build groundwater treatment facilities to stop drinking water importation

The Department of Water and Power (DWP) is seeking to fight water pollution and limit the amount of drinking water that is imported. The ambitious $800 million (£518 million) is aiming to clean up water that is drawn from one of the largest Superfund pollution sites in the US, making the water safe for drinking, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Groundwater wells throughout the San Fernando Valley are deemed unusable due to high levels of dangerous pollutants. In total there are 115 groundwater wells throughout the valley and around half of them are unsuitable for use as drinking water sources. Chemicals like trichloroethylene and perchlorate are toxic and have polluted the wells when they were introduced to the area through solvents used by military bases, industrial plants, dairy operations and car repair businesses.

In an attempt to remove these toxic chemical pollutants from the groundwater wells, the DWP is planning on building water treatment centres in the San Fernando Basin. Two plants will be built in order to undergo a five-year water cleaning process, once the drilling of test wells has determined what pollutants are present and exactly what will need to be done to make the water safe for drinking.

It is hoped that the plants will be built and operational by 2022 so the amount of water currently being imported to subsidise the local supplies can be reduced. Los Angeles currently consumes around 215 billion gallons of water each year; the two process plants could provide around a quarter of that.

Paul Krekorian, city councilman, said: "For far too long, because of the contamination of the San Fernando Valley's groundwater, Los Angeles has been forced to adopt the nonsensical practice of importing water from distant reservoirs while at the same time draining virtually all of our local rainfall out to the ocean.

"Remediating that contamination is long overdue, and the significant steps planned by the DWP are essential to enhancing a local water supply that is far more cost effective for ratepayers and also far more sensitive to the environment."