
[Photo credit: City of Pasadena]
The City of Pasadena’s drinking water once again meets or exceeds all state and federal requirements, according to the 2024 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report released Wednesday.
The report, which covers the 2023 calendar year, details the sources, treatment, composition, and quality of the City’s water supply, as well as information on contaminants and health effects.
In 2023, Pasadena Water and Power provided approximately 23,800 acre-feet or 8.6 billion gallons of water to serve more than 160,000 customers. About two-thirds of this supply was purchased from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which sources water from the Colorado River and the State Water Project in Northern California. The remaining supply came from the City’s groundwater wells in the Raymond Basin aquifer.
“Pasadena’s tap water is monitored daily and assessed by the standards established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water,” the report said.
The state-accredited lab analyzed over 85,000 individual water quality parameters in 2023.
The report also highlighted the City’s newly constructed Wadsworth Groundwater Treatment Facility, a state-of-the-art plant that treats water from three groundwater wells. The facility features six granular activated carbon vessels, a sodium hypochlorite disinfection system, an emergency generator, and has a treatment capacity of 3,000 gallons per minute, enough to supply about 15,000 families annually.
“The successful opening of the Wadsworth Groundwater Treatment Facility is the latest example of Pasadena Water and Power’s ongoing commitment to sustainable, reliable, high quality water service for our customers,” the report stated.
Despite recent drought relief, Pasadena Water and Power urges customers to continue conservation efforts and provides rebates, incentives, and free workshops to support efficient water use, such as replacing turf with drought-tolerant plants and optimizing irrigation systems.