WASTE WATER ENTERS AREA DRINKING LINES; RESIDENTS WARNED.Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer The Las Virgenes water agency is warning residents in a 1,600-home area not to drink tap water after a plumber (programming, tool) Plumber - A system for obtaining information about memory leaks in Ada and C programs. http://home.earthlink.net/~owenomalley/plumber.html. accidentally opened a connection from the residential-water line to the agency's reclaimed-water pipes. The connection allowed an unknown amount of treated waste water normally used for irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. to enter a section of the drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. distribution system, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District officials said. The warning was given in a one-page notice delivered Thursday to homes in an area centered around Mulholland Highway Please [improve the article] or discuss this issue on the talk page. and Old Topanga Canyon Road. Agency officials said tap water should be used only for bathing and washing until the warning is lifted, which could be later today or Saturday. ``We don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. the extent of how much (reclaimed) water got into the system. We believe it's a very minimal amount because of the size of the connection,'' said Arlene Post, the agency's spokeswoman. ``As soon as we knew about it, the state Department of Health (Services) requires that people go to bottled water.'' A resident reported off-color and smelly smell·y adj. smell·i·er, smell·i·est Informal Having a noticeable, usually unpleasant or offensive odor. smelly Adjective [smellier, smelliest tap water to the district Wednesday night. A second report on a similar concern was made Thursday morning. A crew determined that reclaimed water Reclaimed water, sometimes called recycled water, is former wastewater (sewage) that has been treated and purified for reuse, rather than discharged into a body of water. was in the system and found the source, said John Mundy John Mundy could refer to:
Mundy said officials believe a previous owner of the residence connected his private water system to the reclaimed-water line serving parkland behind the home in Calabasas. ``The connection certainly has been bootlegged,'' Mundy said. ``There are people out there who want free water.'' Mundy explained that the plumber opened a valve that allowed the reclaimed water, which has higher pressure than drinking water, to flow past the home's water meter and into the district's system. Officials determined the broadest possible area affected based on the drinking water distribution system and where the reclaimed water could flow, Post said. Notices then were issued beginning about 11 a.m. Thursday, with more than 15 agency employees walking door to door in the area, Post said. The system was not shut down, instead crews flushed the system with drinking water and followed with a disinfectant disinfectant, agent that destroys disease-causing microorganisms and their spores. Disinfectants, or germicides, are sometimes considered to be substances applied to inanimate bodies, whereas antiseptics, not so potent, are agents that kill microbes on living things. . Post said the distribution system didn't need to be shut down ``because of the dilution level and because of the fact that even 100 percent reclaimed water at full strength is certified not only for full-body contact but is also gulpable, meaning that if you happen to swallow a mouthful, it's OK, it's not harmful to your health.'' That was little reassurance for one resident, who complained that the four-paragraph notice did not adequately explain the potential problems related to reclaimed and drinking water mixing. ``Here I am home (from work) with a serious cold. What effects is it having on me?'' asked the resident, who requested not to be named. |
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