Cloudy Water

Due to the drought and shortage of surface water from northern California, both Los Angeles County Waterworks Districts (LACWD) and its water wholesaler, Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency (AVEK) are operating their groundwater wells for longer periods of time than typical to meet increasing demand. There is a potential for greater amounts of air to dissolve in the water that makes it to customers’ homes. When air dissolves in the water, the water can appear milky or cloudy. However, given a chance to settle, the air will bubble out of the water, and the water will clear up. Across the Antelope Valley, the air that is present in the water can take up to a minute to bubble out of the water before it becomes clear. You can easily see this by filling a glass with water from your tap, and then observing it against a dark background. The water will appear cloudy at first as tiny air bubbles already exist in the water. Since air is lighter than water, the bubbles will float to the surface and the water will become clear. The air in the water presents no health risks to customers. Both Waterworks and AVEK regularly monitor the quality of the water in our systems to ensure that it meets all state and federal water quality standards before serving it to customers.

If you have any additional questions regarding the cloudy water, please contact us or visit our Frequently Asked Questions.