Water Supply Unsafe to Drink in Altadena and Parts of Pasadena as Eaton Fire Compounds Contamination Concerns

Editor’s Note: During this rapidly evolving emergency situation, clarification of certain key details from officials may be temporarily delayed. Pasadena Now is actively working to verify all significant information and will update this story as additional confirmations are received.

Water Map: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/52cff0c340644a4e99bd77ee9c53647b/  NOTE: This map covers Pasadena Water & Power customers ONLY. Altadenans should not drink tap water in any part of Altadena.

Officials warned residents across fire-ravaged areas of Altadena and parts of Pasadena not to drink their tap water on Friday afternoon at a virtual Eaton Fire update community meeting.

All of Altadena and parts of Pasadena, indicated on an online map shown above, are areas of concern, officials indicated.

The State of California has ordered all water agencies in the burn areas to prohibit drinking water consumption after the wildfire damaged local water treatment systems and infrastructure, they said.

“The water quality has been degradated to the point that the state is concerned about that quality for human consumption. So we are continuing to ask you under state order not to drink the water at this time,” said Mark Petrella, director of Los Angeles County Public Works.

Even bathing with the water requires caution.

“It may not even be advisable to that. To do that, just out of abundance of caution, getting water on your skin is not a problem. It’s consuming it that we would be concerned about the pathogens that may be in there or the ash and toxics that might be in the water,” Petrella explained.

Officials cannot yet estimate when the water will be safe to drink.

“The typical timeline for that is once we get the treatment up and running again and in good shape, it usually takes 48 hours before we can actually all clear,” Petrella said. “We don’t have several of water companies here that are not quite ready yet in terms of their water treatment to begin that clock.”

To assist affected residents, Pasadena Water and Power distributed over 1,000 water bottles in a four-hour period at 470 North Lake Avenue at the corner of Lake and Villa Street on Friday. The distribution will continue Saturday.

“Currently we have about 395 known outages out of 65,000 accounts, so our system is held up incredibly well. We’re very proud of our linemen and the staff at PWP and all the work that they’ve done and they’re here for you, our residents of Pasadena,” said David Reyes, Interim General Manager for Pasadena Water and Power.

Reyes warned residents to be cautious of water quality issues: “If you turn your water on and you find that it is gray or otherwise has soot, we would encourage you not to drink.”

“Please go to pwp.cityofpasadena.net, identify the map and if you have any questions, you can call the number listed there,” Reyes added. For those outside Pasadena’s service area, water4la.com provides information about local water providers and service updates.

The water crisis compounds challenges for a region grappling with widespread evacuation orders and power outages. “There are three or four water agencies in the fire zone area, some large, some small,” Petrella noted. “LA county doesn’t actually serve retail water in the area, but we are coordinating the water agencies and their delivery to them.”

“Pasadena Water and Power … [has] been sharing across an intertie to these small areas and have kept the water flowing throughout the event both for fire suppression as well as for domestic use,” Petrella said, referring to emergency connections between different water systems that allow them to share resources. “Again, the drinking water and we reemphasize it again, the drinking water is not something we recommend you drink and in fact, we’ve been given orders by the state not to have people drink the water at this time.”

Authorities said they will continue providing updates on water safety through local government websites and at future community briefings.