Public Service Announcement

From an e-mail going around the Department:

Please be aware that there has been a reported incidence of one or more persons posing as water utility personnel, trying to gain access to homes under a pretext of collecting water samples. Please report any similar instances to your District Engineer and to local law enforcement.

LA DWP policy may not be the same as everyone else's, but I don't think we're too far from the mainstream. For the record, LADWP personnel should not ever need "cold-call" access to anyone's water from inside the home. Ever.

Our water quality section will occasionally sample water from the front hose bib of a house, and we'll knock on the door so that, at least, the owner or resident knows what's going on. We've had a few programs where we sample for lead inside of private residences, but the initial contact is always by mail first. We don't have any program where employees will walk up to a home cold and request access to water inside the home.

All our employees carry photo ID cards, and almost always have a car or truck with the city seal and LA DWP markings on it. (Some rental cars don't have these markings, which has been a bit of a nuisance on occasion.)

If in doubt, you can call the water department for your city and ask them to confirm that any people at the front door are real employees. If you can't get confirmation for an unexpected visit, you don't have to let the person in. Speaking for myself, I won't take offense. I can always call in to let people know there's a problem and get an alternate location if one's available. There's always a next appointment to hit.