

Silver Lake Reservoir (Photo by Michael Locke via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)

The presently empty Silver Lake Reservoir will perhaps be filled next summer with recycled wastewater and groundwater, the same kind we use on golf courses and cemeteries.

At a meeting held last night at Micheltorena Elementary School in Silver Lake, LADWP officials said that they would probably fill up the Silver Lake Reservoir again next year, likely with recycled wastewater and groundwater, KPCC reports. They will not use drinking water, as we're currently in a drought.

According to LADWP Assistant General Manager Marty Adams, the most cost-effective solution is to use pipelines already in place to bring in treated water from L.A. Glendale Wastewater Treatment Plant. The pipelines are not currently connected, so it will take time and cost a large chunk of change to do so—in the neighborhood of "a few million dollars." Adams estimates the reservoir may be full again in May of June of next year, according to Curbed LA, after construction has been completed in the empty reservoir.

After the reservoir is full again, the water will be circulated and filtered to make sure it does not become stagnant, likely be using a shallow area for the filter, and moving the water to Echo Park Lake and MacArthur Park Lake. The water levels may be slightly lower than before.

The water was drained last summer so that a new pipeline could be built underneath it. The reservoir was once used to store drinking water, but the federal government put an end to open-air reservoirs for drinking water in 2013 and the pipeline used to take reservoir water to the city's drinking supply was disconnected. Construction then began on Headworks, a new, underground reservoir located near Griffith Park. The new pipeline bypasses the old reservoir. The 400 million gallons that used to be in the Silver Lake Reservoir are being treated and then will once again become drinking water.

LADWP officials did not discuss any other future projects for the reservoir or its surrounding areas, but our citizens have some ideas. Nonprofit community group Silver Lake Forward is very interested in creating a beautiful recreation area around the reservoir, with trails, a beach and a nature center. Swim Silver Lake is campaigning for, perhaps obviously, the ability for residents to swim in it.

The black shade balls currently in the nearby Ivanhoe Reservoir will be removed once construction has finished in late 2016 or 2017. Adams said residents will then be free to take a few for souvenirs, a request the department has apparently received several times, according to the Eastsider.

"Three-point-two million balls out there," he said. "You can have as many as you want."