LA tap water as clean as bottled water; LADWP report finds

GRANADA HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- City residents can stop paying for bottles and home water filters, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

In its annual drinking water quality report, the department found that the nearly 160 billion gallons of drinking water provided, met or exceeded all drinking water standards for health, cleanliness and safety.

Measures to improve water quality include major investments in underground infrastructure, including the city's second ultraviolet disinfection plant under construction in Granada Hills.

"We're zapping the water without any sort of chemicals, without any other type chlorine," LADWP spokesman Albert Rodriguez said. "What this does, it removes any impurities from the water at a microscopic level."

LADWP officials said the quality would only get better with the completion of the Granada Hills project in 2020. They encouraged customers to consider the cost.

Priced at half a cent per gallon, the city's tap water is cheaper when compared to a gallon of bottled water, which averages $1.22.

Officials said it's something most customers don't realize with nearly 40 percent of Los Angeles residents buying bottled drinking water and another 20 percent investing in water treatment devices.

"Save your money," Rodriguez said. "Your water coming out of your tap is just as good or if not, better."