City of Glendale, CA
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About Your Water
100 Years of Public Service
For over 100 years the public servants of Glendale Water & Power have been committed to maintaining the safety of the City’s water supply. The City purchases between 60% and 70% of its potable water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and between 30% and 40% of its water is from local groundwater wells. Each source of water is highly treated to stringent state and federal water quality standards. GWP’s staff take more than 5,700 water quality samples every year and they monitor the testing and compliance of over 2,200 backflow prevention assemblies that help ensure contamination doesn’t enter the water system.
Customer Participation and Assistance
Comments from the public are welcome and may be presented at the City's Water and Power Commission meetings held the first Monday of every month, at 4:00 PM, in the Glendale City Council Chambers, 613 E. Broadway Avenue.
"Being Water Wise Is..." Student Art Contest Is Now Open!
GWP's Student Art Contest is open to all K-12th grade students in Glendale. Sponsored by GWP and the Metropolitan Water District (MWD), participating students are asked to submit artwork portraying the "Being Water Wise Is..." theme, along with a short water message written on the artwork for a chance to be featured in MWD's 2025 Art Calendar and win a iPad mini!
Click here for more information!
The City’s Urban Water Manager Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan can be viewed in the Water Reports Section:
See the plans here: link to the water reports section.
To request water service, or a change to your water service:
Download the form at this link: Request Water Supply Information
Keep Conserving Water, Glendale: It's a California Way of Life
Being water conscious in and around our homes, businesses, schools and landscapes is part of our So Cal way of life. We’ve been lucky enough to get rain in Glendale lately, but that doesn’t mean the water supply shortage is over. Before the rain, Glendale’s water supply was solely dependent on water from the Colorado River. Since the rain and snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, we have more supply projected to come from the State Water Project, until we do, our source of supply is mainly the Colorado River system, which is still in a serious shortage.
GWP will remain in Phase III of the Mandatory Water Conservation Ordinance.
Phase III limits outside watering to two days a week: Tuesday’s and Saturday’s for no more than 10 minutes at each watering station.
- Irrigation by a drip irrigation system or with low-flow sprinkler heads that require additional watering time are exempt from the time limitation, but such irrigation shall be limited to the permitted irrigation days and times of day.
- Irrigation with a hand-held bucket or similar container, or a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut off nozzle or device are exempt from the ten (10) minute time limitation, but shall be limited to the permitted irrigation days and times of day.
The drought charge for Phase III of Mandatory Water Conservation is $0.45/HCF, which equates to about $.0006/gallon, or 60 cents for 1,000 gallons of water. The drought charge is intended to recover the portion of fixed expenses that is collected in the variable water rate. Customers who reduce their water use will either continue to receive the same bill, or have lower bills depending on how much water they conserve.
Most of a customer’s water usage is used for outside landscaping. The easiest way to conserve is to curtail outdoor watering as much as possible. Please know that our No Water Waste Policy is in effect at all times.
Water Conservation Tips:
- Use a nozzle on your hose while washing your car.
- Do not hose down driveways or walkways, use a broom instead.
- Repair leaks, replace damaged sprinkler heads, and adjust sprinklers to avoid over-spray.
- Set your lawn mower blade height at 2 or 3 inches. Longer grass blades will reduce evaporation and shade the roots.
- Use mulch under trees and plants to help retain moisture.
- Water early in the mornings or late at night.
Customers who do not comply with Phase III of the Water Conservation Ordinance will receive a violation warning notice. Repeat violations can result in a fine of up to $1,000.00.
Customers can anonymously report water waste by calling GWP’s water waster hotline at (818) 550-4426 or submitting an online form at www.GlendaleCA.gov/ReportWaterWaste.
Watering of “non-functional turf” is no longer permitted due to the ongoing water shortage emergency for commercial, industrial, HOA accounts used for irrigation, and institutional customers. This is in addition to the current Phase III Mandatory Water Conservation Restrictions limiting outdoor irrigation to two days per week, Tuesday’s and Saturday’s for no more than 10-minutes per station. Non-functional Turf as defined by the State Water Resources Control Board, Emergency Regulation, Title 23, Division 3, Chapter 3.5, Article 2, Section 996 (a) (5) of the Water Code is, ““Non-functional turf” means turf that is solely ornamental and not regularly used for human recreational purposes or for civic or community events. Nonfunctional turf does not include sports fields and turf that is regularly used for human recreational purposes or for civic or community events.”
Click here to view the Second Water Conservation Emergency Regulation of 2022 Frequently Asked Questions.
Water Saving Tips
Learn what you can do to save water indoors and outdoors.
Plant A Beautiful Water-Wise Garden
Learn about what it takes to make your garden save water
Glendale Water Wise Gardening
Need help planting a CA Friendly landscape? Visit MySmartGarden.com/GlendaleCA to help you transform your water guzzling landscape into a water efficient landscape. This website provides you with access to local gardens with over 200 examples of CA Native landscapes.
Rain Barrel Information
General and safety information about owning a rain barrel.
Report Water Waste Anonymously
See water being wasted around Glendale? Report it to us anonymously.
No Water Waste Policy
Learn about water restrictions that are in effect at all times in Glendale
How To Program Your Irrigation Controller
Learn to program your irrigation controller so that you only water your lawn when you need to.
Bewaterwise.com
Information & tips on water conservation, irrigation systems, rebates, and landscape classes.
Bewaterwise.com Watering Calculator
See how much water you really need for your garden.
SaveOurWater.com
Save Our Water is a statewide program aimed at helping Californians reduce their everyday water use. This program offers ideas and inspiration for permanently reducing water use – regardless of whether California is in a drought.
Rebates and Incentives from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD)
Receive rebates for purchasing new water-saving appliances and products.
Turf Replacement Program
The intent of the Turf Replacement program is to have homeowners or businesses remove their existing grass and to replace it with organic, drought tolerant landscaping. Commercial Rebate: is offering a rebate of $2.00 per square foot up to 50,000 square feet of conversion per meter per year. Residential Rebate: is offering a rebate of $2.00 per square foot up to 5,000 square feet of converted yard per year.
Glendale’s water supply comes from a diverse and resilient portfolio of sources, and GWP’s team is always working to keep the supply reliable and to operate the water system efficiently. The total amount of water needed every year depends on you. Typically during warmer years customer demands go up and during cooler years they go down. So, GWP’s Water Facility Operators have to balance the supplies to meet the demands.
Groundwater is pumped from wells in the San Fernando Basin to supply about 25% of Glendale’s water. This supply is limited due to the Upper Los Angeles River Area (ULARA) judgment, and GWP maximizes the amount pumped from the San Fernando Basin by running it through the Glendale Water Treatment Plant (GWTP) to help clean-up the basin as part of an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund clean-up project called the Glendale Operable Unit. The GWTP has been in service for nearly 20 years. The GWTP extracts groundwater that has chemicals in it from the manufacturing industries that used to be in the San Fernando Valley, and cleans it up.
The treatment plant removes chemicals and metals using multiple treatment process including ion-exchange, air-stripping, and adsorption through a granular-activated carbon media. These processes along with disinfection, improves the water quality so that it meets or exceeds all State and Federal drinking water standards. Operation of the GWTP is funded by a group of industries that potentially caused the contamination which allows GWP to keep water rates low by enabling GWP to use Glendale’s water rights in the San Fernando Basin to produce local water and reduce the amount of purchased imported water needed, benefitting today’s residents and customers. Glendale was a pioneer in researching effective methods of removing Chromium VI from groundwater at the GWTP and you can download this study at the link below.
Hexavalent Chromium Removal Research Project
Groundwater is also pumped form the Verdugo Basin. Water pumped from these wells is treated by disinfection and then blended in one of two reservoirs with water from MWD. Due to declining groundwater levels in the basin, pumping is limited. To help get the benefit of water rights in this basin, GWP drilled the Rockhaven Well and is now leasing the well and the associated water rights to the Crescenta Valley Water District, which has a nitrate treatment plant that can treat the water from this well.
The City of Glendale is co-owner of the LA-Glendale Water Reclamation Plant. As co-owner, Glendale is entitled to 50% of the treated water produced by the plant. The demand from Glendale’s recycled water customers currently varies, mainly due to weather, and is between 1,600 and 2,000 ACFT per year, which is between 6% and 7% of the City’s total water demand. GWP has several projects planned to use an additional 400 ACFT per year of recycled water, and offset the amount of potable water needed to meet these demands.
Glendale’s main source of water is the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). Glendale was one of the 13 founding Cities of MWD in 1928. As a Member Agency of MWD, Glendale is able to have a reliable supply of water from two different sources. The first source is the Colorado River Aqueduct, which is dependent on precipitation in the mountains and basins that feed the Colorado River. The second source is the State Water Project, which is dependent on precipitation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. MWD has connected both sources into an integrated system to increase resiliency, and MWD has built multiple reservoirs and conveyance systems to move and store water within the region. MWD completed the Diamond Valley Lake in 1999 at a cost of $2 billion and the water stored in this reservoir helped reduce the impact of the Drought of 2015 to the residents of Glendale.
The water supplied by the State Water Project and the Colorado River Aqueduct is naturally desalinated using solar power as the sun warms the ocean and evaporates water into the atmosphere which falls as snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Rocky Mountains which then melts and flows into the two aqueducts. After collection and transportation, the MWD treats the water that Glendale uses at one of two regional surface water treatment plants, first disinfecting it with Ozone treatment, then coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and filtration and finally with additional disinfection prior to delivery to Glendale.
So, with long range planning and day-to-day operational knowhow, GWP is always working to maintain an efficient and reliable water supply for the City of Glendale.
The most regular source of information about water in Glendale is the “City of Glendale Water & Power, Water Quality Report to our Customers”. This report is also called the “Consumer Confidence Report” and it is updated annually. The report contains the actual results of the tests performed on the water system and this information is supplied to State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, the agency that regulates water quality throughout the state. You can download the reports at the links below which have the most recent information and many helpful questions and answers about your water as well as a thorough description of what each of the water quality terms in the report mean.
Water Quality Report / Consumer Confidence Report
If you have any questions regarding the quality of your drinking water or would like more information about Glendale water, please contact James Saenz at 818-548-2011.More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
Important Information on Water Disinfection
Glendale Water and Power chloramines to disinfect your water and to keep it safe while it travels through the water distribution system. Below are answers to common questions about chloramines.
Click here to visit the EPA website and find out more about PFAS, and PFAS in the environment.
According the EPA, “The COVID-19 virus has not been detected in drinking-water supplies. Based on current evidence, the risk to water supplies is low. Americans can continue to use and drink water from their tap as usual.”
This statement is based on the fact that the treatment processes used by GWP at the City’s wells and by MWD at the surface water treatment plants that serve Glendale is disinfection using chlorine at the initial point of treatment and then the use of chloramines to maintain a long lasting disinfectant residual in the water distribution system in order to prevent water borne pathogens. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, “Coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, is a type of virus that is particularly susceptible to disinfection and standard treatment and disinfectant processes are expected to be effective.”
To read more from the EPA you can click on this link: https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus-and-drinking-water-and-wastewater
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has a dedicated web page about its response to the Corona Virus and their response to keep water safe at www.mwdh2o.com/DocSvcsPubs/COVID-19/index.html. The Metropolitan Water District has also prepared these useful fact sheets in English, Spanish and Chinese at the links below:
MWD COVID-19 FAQs (English)
MWD COVID-19 FAQs (Spanish)
MWD COVID-19 FAQs (Chinese)
For emergencies like earthquakes or evacuations due to fires, the Glendale Fire Department recommends keeping an emergency supply kit with enough water to last 72 hours for your family’s needs. Glendale Water & Power’s water professionals are working around the clock to keep Glendale’s water system working so you have safe drinking water available for drinking and sanitary purposes, and so you do not have to buy extra water for your emergency supplies during a pandemic related emergency like COVID-19.
Why does my water leave a white residue on glass and metal surfaces?
The white, crusty residue sometime left behind when water dries on a surface is a product of water hardness. Hardness is basically an indication of the presence of minerals in water. Minerals are naturally occurring and do not pose a health risk. Mineral deposits, usually calcium, may form in larger quantities in water that is either too hot or too cold; this is why customer frequently see deposits on tea kettles and in ice cubes. A mild vinegar solution is usually sufficient to clean fresh mineral deposits on glass and metal surfaces.
My drinking water is reddish brown. Why?
Reddish-brown water can be caused by rust dislodged from the drinking water pipes in the street, those leading to, or inside, your home, or from your hot water tank. If you are having trouble and your neighbors are not, then the color is likely originating somewhere in your plumbing system. Let your water run until it clears up before using it.
Should I install a home water treatment device?
This is a personal decision. These devices are not needed to make the water meet federal, state, or local standards. In fact, if the devices are not properly maintained, they may cause problems of their own. You may consider a home treatment device if you desire to change the taste of your water.
How is the inside of a pipe cleaned after a water main break?
After the work is done, the inside of the pipes are disinfected with a chlorine solution to kill off germs. In some cases, water is flushed through the main at a high velocity by opening a fire hydrant which also allows the water main to be cleaned.
Why do GWP crews let water run down the street?
One way GWP maintains water quality is by cleaning pipelines using a flushing process to clean out sediment and minimize the potential for stagnant water. This process maintains disinfectant residuals and reduces the chances of bacterial growth in the water distribution system. Pipeline cleaning is an important, routine process and a non-wasteful, beneficial use of water.
My water often looks cloudy when taken from a faucet and then clears up. Why?
The cloudy or milky water is caused by tiny air bubbles. After a while, the bubbles rise to the top and dissipate into the air. The cloudiness occurs more often in the winter when the drinking water is cold. Air in water does not pose a health risk.
Why does my water smell like a rotten egg?
The most common cause of the rotten egg or sewage smell is from the gases released by bacterial growth in drain pipes. When you run your faucets, the water enters the drain pipe and forces these gases out, resulting in the smell. To determine if the smell is coming from the drain or the water, fill a glass with water, take it into another room and smell the water in the glass. If you do not smell the same odor from the water in the glass, then the odor is coming from the drain. Cleaning the drain with a mild bleach solution should resolve the problem.
Why does my water smell like chlorine?
State and Federal regulations require that water utilities, including GWP, maintain a disinfectant residual throughout the distribution system. The purpose is to prevent water-borne illnesses by suppressing the growth of bacteria and other potential contaminants. GWP, like many other utilities, uses chlorine and chloramines to comply with these requirements. You may, at times, experience a chlorine taste or odor.
Why is Fluoride added to my drinking water?
While GWP does not directly add fluoride to its drinking water, it is naturally present in Glendale’s groundwater at very low levels and is added by the Metropolitan Water District to water purchased by GWP at a level considered to be safe by both the Centers for Disease Control and the American Dental Association. The addition of fluoride to drinking water has a proven record of improving dental hygiene in the communities where it is practiced. Click here for more information regarding fluoride.
What is Water Hardness?
Water hardness is one of the most common water quality concerns reported by consumers in the United States. Water that is considered to be “hard” is high in dissolved minerals, specifically calcium and magnesium. As the concentration of the dissolved minerals increase, the water becomes harder.
The two most common units of measurement for hardness are grains per gallon and milligrams per liter. Some appliances, such as dishwashers, have a setting to adjust for the hardness of the water. Usually the hardness setting for these appliances is in grains per gallon.
In grains per gallon, water hardness is classified as follows:
- Less than 4 grains per gallon is considered to be soft
- 4 to 7 grains per gallon is considered to be moderately-hard
- 7 to 10 grains per gallon is hard
- greater than 10 grains per gallon is very hard
Is Hard Water Safe to Drink?
Yes, hard water is safe to drink and to use for cooking and cleaning and is not a health risk. State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water and the US Environmental Protection Agency do not consider hard water a health issue and there are no standards or limits set for hardness. Click here for more information on water hardness.