The Metropolitan Water District, the Los Angeles-based supplier of a majority of San Diego’s drinking water, is warning that its customers may notice their water is growing harder. That essentially means you may notice spots and residue when you’re washing your dishes or car.
(Don’t confuse hard water with soft water, which makes your hands feel slippery after washing with soap. Hard water doesn’t lather well with soap.)
The hardening is expected because of the mixture of water Metropolitan is using. The water wholesaler is slated to get less water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, it will have to use more water from the Colorado River. And that water has more minerals in it.
In past years, Metropolitan has relied on the delta for as much as 80 percent of its mixture of water. This year, the water mixed in from the delta will drop to 20 percent. That could increase depending on how much water the state Department of Water Resources releases from the delta. A final decision on that allocation is expected in the spring.