On Wednesday, January 8, the City of Pasadena issued a Do-Not-Drink Water Notification due to possible contamination from the Eaton Fire.
The notification was later downgraded following the immediate repair of several fire-impacted facilities and “extensive testing” of local water (see which areas are still impacted here).
The Pasadena Department of Water and Power is one of only a few local water agencies in L.A. County that have issued Do-Not-Drink notices since the fires. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) issued Boil Water Notices for the Pacific Palisades as well the 90402 zip code in Santa Monica. Water notices were also issued by the Kinneloa Irrigation District in Pasadena, Las Flores Water Co. in Altadena, Rubio Canon Land Water Assoc. in Altadena, Lincoln Avenue Water Co. in Altadena, and Los Angeles CWWD 29 and 80-Malibu.
That doesn’t mean the rest of the county is out of the woods. Experts who spoke to ABC 7 News expressed concerns that water contamination may be more extensive than currently thought.
Contamination after a fire can happen in various ways. There can be outright damage to infrastructure, but there can also be a loss of pressure that results in contamination. Water systems are kept airtight to prevent harmful toxins from entering the supply. When pressure is lost, those toxins can get through.
We know there was a loss of water pressure in the Pacific Palisades because authorities have said so. The loss of water pressure is the reason hydrants “ran dry” as firefighters battled the blaze, according to the LADWP.
Contamination by the known carcinogen benzene is one of the concerns. After the fire in Paradise in 2018, “there were benzene levels high enough to acutely give a child a blood disorder,” Dr. Lynn Goldman, Dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, told ABC 7.
Not all publicly available water quality tests can detect fire-related drinking water contamination, according to Andrew Whelton, an engineering professor at Purdue University who researches post-fire water contamination. If you’re worried, he recommends having your water professionally tested, but only after the utility's water is declared safe.
Read more about the water quality concerns in L.A. cities here.