Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers were asked on Wednesday to conserve water and residents remaining in the Pacific Palisades area were notified to boil their water for the next two days due to quality issues stemming from the massive Palisades Fire that erupted Tuesday morning.
“Because we are pushing the water system so hard, our water quality is decreasing so we are going to be issuing a boil water notice this morning and that will extend for about 48 hours,” Los Angeles Department of Water and Power CEO and Chief Engineer Janisse Quiñones during a morning news conference.
Quiñones specifically referenced the boil water notice to residents within the 90272 zip code encompassing the Pacific Palisades area.
“The water quality is low. We have a lot of ash in the system so please, if you’re going to be drinking water, you need to boil the water,” Quiñones said.
The notice comes as firefighters have relied heavily on the water system to fight the wind-driven fire that has destroyed more than 1,000 homes.
Quiñones said the firefight has put tremendous stress on the system using four times the normal demand for 15 hours straight. The usage has also lowered the system’s water pressure, prompting Quiñones to ask all LADWP customers to help.
“If there’s a message to take away from me today it is I need our customers to really conserve water. Not just in the Palisades area but the whole system because the fire department needs the water to fight the fires and we are fighting a wildfire with an urban water system and that is really challenging,” Quiñones said.
Evacuations were ordered for the Palisades community on Tuesday with an evacuation shelter for people and pets established at the Westwood Recreation Center at 1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
The fire remains 0% contained, according to officials.
