More water saving urged as MWD temporarily closes plant

Foothills water customers are being asked to tighten taps further and refrain from watering lawns for up to 10 days starting Feb. 29, while Metropolitan Water District of Southern California temporarily closes a La Verne treatment plant for infrastructure upgrades.

MWD is in the process of switching its Weymouth Filtration plant from a chloramine-based treatment method to ozonation, in which ozone injected into raw water creates bubbles that carry away pathogens and contaminants, spokesman Bob Muir said in an interview Friday.

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To do that, all five of the treatment plants the district maintains must be retrofitted to accommodate newly built ozone facilities.

“It’s a more effective way of treating water. It’s just an overall better disinfectant for our supplies,” Muir said of the switch over, part of a $270-million project to fully introduce ozonation in 2017.

During the work period, local homes and businesses served by Foothill Municipal Water District’s retail agencies — including Crescenta Valley Water and La Cañada Irrigation districts and the Mesa Crest and Valley Water companies — will not receive imported water from MWD.

The temporary shutoff will begin even earlier, Feb. 23, for Altadena residents, due to additional work being planned for area supply lines, according to Muir. The work should be completed by March 10.

With MWD supplies temporarily dried up, local retail water agencies must rely on local water and stored supplies to meet demands. Officials are asking customers to help make ends meet during the planned outage by not watering their lawns and conserving indoor water use.

As a reminder to save resources while the work’s being done, Foothill Municipal Water District will increase the area’s conservation status from “orange,” indicating a rationing to two irrigation periods per week to the more critical “red,” under which outdoor watering is not allowed.

“We have very limited storage, so we need to be careful,” said FMWD General Manager Nina Jazmadarian. “As soon as we feel more comfortable with the supply, we’ll change it back to orange.”

Muir said he is confident if people make an effort to pitch in during the shutoff, there will be no interruptions to local water supplies. Jazmadarian asks customers for their continued patience during the work period.

“I know that people are tired of the drought, and we really appreciate everything everyone’s done — we’ve had some great numbers,” she said. “This is just a little step more for the 10 days. And then, once we’re out of it, back to drought mode.”

For more information, call Foothill Municipal Water District at (818) 790-4036, or visit bewaterwise.com for conservation tips.

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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine