LOS ANGELES, Oct 13, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) — For upgrading water treatment processes at two of its filtration plants, Metropolitan Water District scored an "A" for water treatment in the third annual Southern California Environmental Report Card released by UCLA's Institute of the Environment.
Ozone will replace the more traditional chlorine-based disinfection process at Metropolitan's Joseph Jensen (Granada Hills) and Henry J. Mills (Riverside) treatment plants.
"We are very pleased that our efforts to prudently proceed with advanced treatment technologies on a business-wise basis has earned Metropolitan high marks in the eyes of UCLA's Institute of the Environment," said Joseph Tait, MWD's assistant general manager and chief operating officer. "We also take to heart the B+ for our annual water quality report, while we make changes in the way we approach public involvement in decision making to improve our C grade in that area."
Tait said the past year has been revolutionary in the history of Metropolitan as the agency has been retooled through an extensive district-wide reorganization.
"As we have gone through the process of redefining our agency's way of doing business, we are focusing on water quality more directly and are devising better methods to include public participation and input," Tait said. "By starting to listen carefully to our stakeholders, we are doing things very differently than we have in the past."
These ongoing changes, Tait said, are reflected in Metropolitan's development of the new strategic plan, which has been partly based on the outcome of more than 20 public meetings throughout Southern California between September 1999 and June 2000.
"From our well-attended and well-covered workshops on climate change and the impacts of energy deregulation, we are trying to cultivate a more interactive and open culture at Metropolitan that is in tune with the concerns of our customers," Tait said.
Consumer research is guiding many of Metropolitan's new outreach programs, Tait said, including a pilot Hispanic Outreach Program and a Cryptosporidium educational program for at-risk consumers.
Drinking water quality was one of four issues addressed in this year's Environmental Report Card. UCLA faculty considered experts in their respective fields authored the report card. Dr. I. H. (Mel) Suffet, professor of UCLA's environmental science and engineering program and environmental health sciences department at the university's School of Public Health, authored the drinking water quality report.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a consortium comprised of 27 cities and water agencies serving 17 million people in six counties. The District imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water-recycling, desalination, conservation, storage, and other water-management programs.
CONTACT: Metropolitan Water District
Adan Ortega, Jr., 213/445-9645 (cell)
Bob Muir, 213/324-5213 (cell)
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