Calabasas Residents Told to Drink Up

CALABASAS â€”  More than two dozen employees of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District went door-to-door Sunday alerting residents in about 1,600 homes that their drinking water is safe despite last week’s contamination scare.

The water supply was declared safe late Saturday after results from a second round of testing showed no bacterial contamination. By early Sunday morning, water district employees were distributing fliers to make sure residents knew that their tap water was fine for drinking and cooking.

Local water officials also said that they now plan to focus their attention on investigating a former homeowner who is suspected of rigging a piping system to steal recycled waste water to irrigate his backyard. Officials feared the waste water was diverted into the potable water system when the home’s new owners hired a landscaper who innocently opened a valve on the bootleg pipe.

The treated water then flowed into the home’s drinking water system, which connects to the system supplying 1,600 homes and two area schools. Upon making the discovery, local water officials flushed and disinfected water lines and crimped the line suspected of causing the leak.

Sandy Chodd, an administrative assistant for the water district, was among the 25 employees who canvassed Calabasas by foot Sunday hanging fliers on doors and handing them to residents and family members, including Sigi Hart.

“I think my stomach ache just went away,� quipped Hart after Chodd handed him a flier and told him the water was safe.

Hart, who was visiting his daughter and her family at their home on Dardenne Street, said the family had been drinking bottled water since the scare began Thursday and was relieved to know they could use tap water.

Besides passing out fliers, the water district made customer-service telephone lines available to residents Sunday. Some employees also drove through the neighborhoods to inform residents who might be outside their homes.

Arlene Post, a spokesman for the water district, said the investigation into the piping system is continuing.

“Our primary focus has been getting the system cleaned and getting people notified and answering questions,� Post said. “We’re going to catch our breath and then decide what the lines look like and how they got there. We’re certain it’s not the current owner.�