Water Quality in LA

After ruminating over SF government's ban on bottled water it got me to wondering-- how safe exactly is our tap water? Could I drink like a fish and manage to make out? Is drinking beer safer than water?



On my mad hunt for what exactly was in our tap water, I found some interesting factoids. Turns out everything, including the kitchen sink may be in our water supply. Trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) anyone? How about Tetrachloroethylene [PCE], Arsenic (with maybe even some old lace thrown in), and Uranium? You can see their most recent annual water quality report here.

The LADWP is slowly phasing out use of chlorine for disinfection purposes and starting to use chloramines instead. Exactly when the change will be implemented is not clear, because for sure there also may be trace elements of chlorine left even after they completely stop using it. The significance of the change is due to the fact that chlorine, when mixed with certain naturally occuring organic substances in water, can lead to the creation of TTHMs and HAA5, or disinfection-by-products, which are suspected of causing cancer. 'The current Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for TTHMs, a possible carcinogen, and HAA5 is 80 and 60 micrograms per liter (µg/L), respectively'. I checked to see where my zip area would fare in the mix. Given all this info is accurate and actually reflects whats in my water then it looks like for my area, there are TTHM and HAA5 levels of 59 and 61, respectively.

WESTERN Water Quality Area

Zip Code	THMs (Trihalomethanes)		HAA5 (Haloacetic acid)
	Average	Range	Average	Range
90008	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90016	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90022	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90025	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90034	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90035	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90036	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90045	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90048	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90049	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90056	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90062	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90064	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90066	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90069	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90075	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90077	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90094	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90210	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90211	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90225	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90227	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90228	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90229	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90230	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90232	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90250	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90272	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90291	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90292	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90293	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90301	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90302	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90303	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90304	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90305	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90402	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90403	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90404	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90405	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90504	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133

Oh well, maybe I'll just HAVE to stick by my Fat Tire, after all. What a shame...