Water Quality Monitoring

LA Sanitation (LASAN) staff perform extensive testing and assessments in the following fields:

  • Microbiology
  • Marine biology
  • Toxicity testing
  • Wastewater and marine chemistry
  • Solid waste and air quality monitoring
  • Process control
  • Industrial waste pretreatment analysis

Daily testing of wastewater from all treatment processes is routinely provided at each water reclamation facility to ensure compliance with operating permits. Plant engineers and operators immediately use test results to fine-tune the process operations at each facility, which together treat over 400 million gallons of wastewater each day. This valuable information is used to provide the best waste management services to the public while protecting the air, land and water from pollutants.

 LASAN employees working on the pipes

Stormwater and runoff are the biggest contributors of pollution and contamination to shoreline waters, especially during storms. As a result the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has issued a joint permit to several municipalities having watersheds that connect to Santa Monica Bay, including the City of Los Angeles, in order to reduce the amount of contamination flowing to the Bay. Results from the City’s monitoring efforts are used to track the effectiveness of the clean-up efforts as well as to help create the Beach Report Card.


The City of Los Angeles is committed to protecting public health and improving the water quality of our coastal waters by:
 

  • Installing pollution control devices throughout Los Angeles
  • Placing low-flow diversion structures into storm drains that direct portions of the dry-weather urban runoff to the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant that otherwise would flow directly into Santa Monica Bay
  • Implementing other measures including catch basin cleaning and public education programs
  • Engaging in cooperative efforts with other agencies such as sharing monitoring data with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services who then post warning signs at beaches when appropriate, and with Heal the Bay to incorporate the data into its Beach report Card