DWP REASSURES ITS CUSTOMERS WASTEWATER RECYCLING PROGRAM DELAYED.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials Monday sought to reassure customers that their drinking water will be safe under a new ``toilet-to-tap'' wastewater recycling project set to start this month.

The project, as detailed Sunday in the Daily News, involves purifying 3.2 billion gallons of wastewater a year and sending it into the groundwater supply beneath the San Fernando Valley. The water will undergo a natural filtering process there and will be piped into homes in the East Valley and most of the city about five years from now.

The DWP fielded about a dozen calls from customers Monday who were worried about the project or wanted more information, according to department spokeswoman Darlene Battle.

DWP water resources Director Thomas Erb said they are reassuring people that the water will be thoroughly treated and clean and safe for drinking.

``The water is safe,'' Erb said. ``This project will continue to provide safe, high-quality drinking water to the residents of Los Angeles. We will continue to perform regular testing of our water quality to ensure it does meet all state and federal drinking water standards.''

Councilman Joel Wachs, whose office also received several calls Monday, plans today to call for a public hearing on the issue before the council's Environmental Quality Committee and the Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Wachs believes the DWP should have done more to notify the public and council that the project was about to begin, according to the councilman's deputy, Tom Henry.

``We're upset that it was never made fully clear to the city or at least the San Fernando Valley council people what was taking place,'' Henry said. ``I think the ratepayers of the DWP have a right to know where their money has been going and what's going on, and to also be assured that the water quality is safe.''

DWP officials have said they held hearings in 1991 and 1995, as well as sent out notifications of pipeline construction to affected neighborhoods in 1997. But they concede that little public notice has been sent out recently, although they intend to hold a dedication ceremony soon.

DWP officials originally thought they could start pumping water Monday, but Erb said some of the new instruments and equipment at the Donald C. Tillman water reclamation plant are still being set up and tested, so it will probably not start until next week.

The new program will send wastewater through a lengthy purification process at the Tillman plant, involving a series of filters and chemicals to remove all harmful materials.

The water will then be pumped to the Hansen Dam spreading grounds, where it will be naturally filtered as it percolates through the soil, and then will eventually mix with the groundwater supply.

From there, it will take at least five years for it to spread to the nearest well, about 6,000 feet away. It undergoes additional testing and treatment when it is drawn from the ground.