How does LACWD keep me safe from PFAS?

LACWD is committed to making sure our customers have clean, safe drinking water. We have not only complied with all relevant requirements, but we have gone above and beyond to test and monitor your drinking water to ensure public health.

Testing and Monitoring

In September 2020, California State Water Board Division of Drinking Water (DDW) issued an order to certain systems (based on their proximity to potential sources of PFAS) to perform quarterly testing and monitoring for four types of PFAS. LACWD has complied with all applicable orders.

As of the latest General Order that was issued in 2022, LACWD is only required to monitor 3 wells for PFAS quarterly. In addition to complying with this order, LACWD investigated how much PFAS was in our existing water supply. As a part of this investigation, we sampled all groundwater wells for PFAS. From this voluntary and proactive sampling, almost all of LACWD’s wells did not detect any PFAS.

Transparency

Whenever there is a PFAS detection that exceeds a Notification Level, LACWD has notified our own governing body as well as the governing body of any local agency whose jurisdiction includes areas supplied with drinking water from LACWD, as required by California Health and Safety Code Section 116455. Any PFAS detections have been reported in LACWD’s annual water quality reports (also known as Consumer Confidence Reports) which can be accessed by scrolling below on this webpage.

As PFAS are still under research and investigation, there are still some things that are unknown. We are closely following the emerging research about PFAS and public health, and any updates will be made to this webpage. For more information, please contact JJang@dpw.lacounty.gov or customer service at (877) 637-3661.