STUDY SHOWS HIGH ANXIETY OVER TAP WATER.

Byline: Martin Kuz Staff Writer

Nine out of 10 Californians worry about the quality of their tap water for drinking, according to a new study - and city and state officials say the results don't surprise them.

The nationwide survey, commissioned by the Illinois-based Water Quality Association, showed that 86 percent of the state's residents have concerns about water quality, ranging from its taste and odor to fears over possible health contaminants.

``For a long time, water was taken for granted,'' association spokeswoman Carlyn Meyer said. ``People would just get a bill for their water, pay it and that was that. But now they're more concerned about what's coming out of the tap.''

The Water Quality Association, which represents the commercial and industrial water treatment industry, hired New Jersey-based Opinion Research Corporation International to conduct its fourth biennial water quality survey. The study also examined water quality in Florida and Texas, as well as Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis and New York City.

Approximately 1,000 Californians were interviewed between February and April for the survey.

Almost two-thirds, 65 percent, expressed concerns about the aesthetics of tap water, complaining about its taste, smell, hardness or appearance. More than half, 54 percent, said they worry about health contaminants in the water, and 46 percent voiced concern over sediments.

National figures were almost identical, with 86 percent of Americans expressing doubts over tap water quality, 66 percent raising aesthetic concerns and 51 percent worried about health contaminants.

City and state water officials, while somewhat skeptical about the exact percentage of Californians fretting over the state's household water supply, conceded that public fears continue to rise.

``In general, I would not disagree with the finding that there's growing societal concern with water quality,'' said Pankaj Parekh, director of water quality compliance for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. ``We also don't have any beef with society's expectations about the drinking water.''

David Spath, chief of the division of drinking water and environmental management within the California Health Services Department, said the 86 percent figure ``seems a little high'' compared with recent surveys done by state utilities.

Nonetheless, he said, ``that doesn't mean (water quality) isn't a concern. ... The constant focusing on water by the media has led to people losing a certain degree of confidence in the water quality.''

Recent media attention has centered on arsenic levels in drinking water. Last year, then-President Clinton directed the Environmental Protection Agency to institute a five-year plan to lower acceptable arsenic levels in tap water by 80 percent.

President George W. Bush halted that order shortly after taking office in January. The ensuing public backlash would appear to bolster the association's findings that 49 percent of Americans, and 48 percent of Californians, say federal laws governing drinking water remain too lax.

``The Bush administration probably underestimated the concern that people have about the water they're drinking,'' Meyer said. ``Its policy runs counter to what public opinion seems to be right now.''

In California, media and public interest also has fixed on chromium 6, the cancer-causing chemical found in groundwater that gained notoriety in last year's film ``Erin Brockovich.'' Tests of 220 privately owned water wells in Los Angeles County earlier this year found more than one-third were contaminated with chromium 6, arsenic and lead.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California both regularly test for the presence of toxic chemicals in the water supply, and officials say the levels rarely exceed health standards.

As for tap water aesthetics, Californians often cite chlorine when complaining about odors and taste, but Parekh said the disinfectant is a ``necessary evil'' to maintain water quality.

Metropolitan Water District spokesman Adan Ortega Jr. added that the agency, which provides half of the drinking water to Southern California, consistently ranks high in national surveys of tap water quality.

But such surveys generally test water at a central source, before it travels through a municipal system. The varied condition of water pipes in a given city or even a particular building can greatly diminish water flavor and appearance, Ortega said.

Water district officials, seeking to change public perception about the water supply, last month launched a bilingual outreach campaign to extol the quality of drinking water in Southern California.

The campaign aims to ease consumer anxiety over tap water, as well as alert residents to the tactics of unscrupulous vendors who try to charge thousands of dollars for home water filtration systems that typically cost no more than $100, Ortega said.

``We want people to know - especially people who come from countries where you can't really drink the water - that the water is good here,'' he said.