BUSINESS WIRE - 44 Montgomery St, 39th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104; Tel: (415) 986-4422; FAX: (415) 788-5335 -

It's a demanding task, performed in a building built to accommodate about half that number of staff. But in the decade since Metropolitan Water District's water quality laboratory was built, the science and regulation of drinking water quality have expanded almost exponentially.

This coming Thursday (Oct. 3), board members, staff and guests of the regional water wholesaler -- MWD provides about 60 percent of the tap water used by 16 million Southern Californians -- will gather at the laboratory to celebrate both a lab expansion project and the long-sought enactment of a new federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

The 27,500-square-foot laboratory was built in 1985 to accommodate a staff of 57; the $15 million, 30,300-square-foot addition will provide facilities for the next decade. Construction is to be completed in 1998.

"The work that's done in this building is known to public health officials and water utility people around the world," said Mark Beuhler, director of Metropolitan's water quality division. "In addition to performing about 300,000 analyses of our water each year -- we test for some 100 different organic and inorganic constituents -- we do some cutting-edge research."

Recently, Metropolitan applied for a patent on a process for faster identification of Cryptosporidium, a microscopic organism which, if it enters the public water supply, can cause widespread illness, even death in people with weakened immune systems. The method was developed by several of the laboratory's microbiologists.

Also recently, President Clinton signed a new law setting higher federal standards for drinking water quality. Metropolitan, the nation's largest provider of treated drinking water, had long lobbied for improvements to the previous law, making it easier for utilities to focus on clear health concerns such as Cryptosporidium.

Metropolitan's vigilance has been rewarded: the district's water meets or surpasses all federal and state requirements, and there has never been a known outbreak of water-borne illness in the district's 5,200-square-mile service region.

The taste, bouquet and clarity of the district's water, which is imported from the Sierra Nevada of Northern California and from the Colorado River, was judged sixth in a national competition.

ADDITIONAL WATER QUALITY ANGLES

Metropolitan's Water Quality Laboratory is truly world-renowned.

- Letters requesting information and technical assistance have been received from Evora, Portugal; La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland; Ljubljana, Slovenia (formerly Yugoslavia); Havana, Cuba; Bloemfontein, Republic of South Africa; Lyallpur, Pakistan; Luang Prabang, Laos; and Dacca, Bangladesh, among numerous others.

Visitors also come from around the world.

- MWD's specially trained Flavor Profile Panel of lab employees meets once a week to evaluate the taste, clarity and bouquet of water from one of the district's five filtration plants throughout Southern California, as well as samples taken from throughout the distribution system. The panel meets more frequently when there is a taste-and-odor episode, such as algae growth in a reservoir.

- One of the lab's newest and most costly instruments is a gas chromatograph/high resolution mass spectrometer.

The instrument can see a quantity called femtograms, which is a million times smaller than a part per trillion. Put another way, if you filled the Rose Bowl with water, one part per trillion would equal 10 additional drops into the stadium. A femtogram is 1 million times smaller than the 10 drops in the Rose Bowl.

MWD's Flavor Panel -- and many individuals throughout the Southland with sensitive palates -- can detect a compound present in drinking water at one part per trillion.

-- PEROXONE, a combination of ozone and hydrogen peroxide, was developed and named at Metropolitan's Water Quality Laboratory and is being used in the lab's Oxidation Demonstration Plant.

Peroxone, which has proven to be an outstanding disinfectant without producing as many byproducts as chlorine, is the district's likely choice to meet upcoming water-treatment regulations.

CONTACT: Metropolitan Water District, Los Angeles Bob Gomperz, 213/217-6866 (office) 818/797-5478 (home) rgomperz@mwd.dist.ca.us Bob Muir, 213/217-6930 (office) 714/879-7478 (home) rmuir@mwd.dst.ca.us Rob Hallwachs, 213/217-6450 (office) 818/398-7697 (home) rhallwachs@mwd.dst.ca.us Sal Vazquez, 213/217-6752 (office) 818/951-4364 (home) svazquez@mwd.dst.ca.us

Copyright (c) 1996/BUSINESS WIRE. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, Business Wire, 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036; Tel: (212) 575-8822; FAX: (212) 575-1854.
960920
BW960918

Copyright © 1996 - Business Wire. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Business Wire, Permissions Desk, Business Wire, 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036; Tel: (212) 575-8822; FAX: (212) 575-1854. http://www.businesswire.com.

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1996. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1996. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .