Is South Gate’s drinking water really safe?

South Gate Mayor Gil Hurtado doesn’t wear ties. 

“I don’t like suits. I don't like ties,” he said. “I have one tie at my house. I got rid of all the others.”

He says he likes to dress comfortably. On the day CALÓ News interviewed the mayor of the Southeast L.A. city, he wore a black blazer but no dress shirt or tie. He wore a sports black shirt underneath the blazer, because he said after the interview he was going to prepare the field for the softball team that he coaches. 

Hurtado said people in social media will sometimes criticize how he dresses. 

“I dress how I’m comfortable. And if people like it or don't like it, that's irrelevant. Worry about the policies that we're setting,” he said. “Don't worry about how I dress, but they want to focus on silly little things like that.”

But according to the mayor, it’s not just “silly” things they focus on, so he contacted CALÓ News for what he calls alleged disinformation being spread on social media.

Our previous story, a brief report on the water quality of South Gate, prompted the mayor to contact our news organization and further clarify that some residents in South Gate do not believe that the water quality in South Gate is safe, given that when water pipes develop sediment, they must be flushed and that can cause water discoloration. 

Water discoloration can also occur when there is an accident and cars hit a fire hydrant. 

“Our city, just like every city, provides water to the community, and water goes through pipes, and pipes develop sediments and manganese and other things that you see in the pipes,” the mayor said. So in order to maintain them, the city does a thing called flushing. So you'll see our public works department by a fire hydrant, and they'll let the water run, and people will not know what's going on. And [they’ll say,] ‘oh, they say we have a drought, but look at all the water they're wasting.’ But it's a process to keep our pipes clean. The vibration causes all that sediment, all this stuff, to loosen up, so anybody around that area will have discoloration of water. The same thing will happen if there's a fire hydrant and a car crashes into it.”. 

Hurtado reiterated that the water in South Gate is safe to drink: “Our water is safe to drink. I drink the water from here. My grandchildren drink the water. My wife drinks the water from here.” 

According to the State Water Resources Control Board, the South Gate Water Department is considered “Not at risk.” 

The Los Angeles Times published a report on water contamination in California last year and according to the database they provide to check on each area, the South Gate Water Department is “not failing to meet safe drinking water standards” and “does not currently have violations for exceeding the maximum level of any contaminants.”

Lizette Ruiz, 40, told CALÓ News that she is an environmental scientist who had joined a private Facebook group called South Gate Police Scanner. The administrators listed on the Facebook group are Ruiz Luz and Thomas Buckley II.

After Ruiz, who graduated from California State University Long Beach with a major in environmental science and policy and a minor in geology said she posted about water discoloration and attempted to explain that she had read the water reports from the city herself, her comment was deleted and was removed from the group. 

She said she was just trying to inform people, who then accused her of defending the city council. Ruiz said Buckley accused her of “trolling people” and she was kicked off the page. 

“I’m not defending them,” Ruiz said. “Let’s question things but let’s cite the right information.” 

CALÓ News attempted to contact Buckley through Facebook message and through the phone listed on his business website but received no response. 

I was admitted into the Facebook group, however, and was able to see that our previous report was posted. In the comments, Buckley shared a podcast episode about the brown water in South Gate. 

In the podcast episode, Robert Montalvo, host of “South Gate Real Talk,” spoke with former city manager Chris Jeffers. 

Jeffers explained that the water flushing to remove sediment from the pipes can cause the brown water and stated that most of the pipes in the city are from the 1960s. He also said that the city was working to replace the pipes. 

Given that the podcast episode is from February 2021, CALÓ News reached out to the current city manager Rob Houston to ask about the water pipes, but were referred to the water division manager Chris Castillo, who has not returned our call at this time. 

CALÓ News also reached out to Arturo Cervantes, assistant city manager and director of Public Works, who said in an emailed statement that the city takes 2,400 water samples each year that show State and Federal quality standards are being met. 

In the statement emailed by Giselle M. Hernandez, who is marketing and community engagement manager from the city of South Gate, also shared the latest Water Quality Report from 2023.  

“In 2021, the City launched a 5-year capital improvement program to replace aging water pipelines annually to preserve water quality and enhance system reliability. The total 5-year budget planned was approximately $35 Million for water related projects.   To date, two projects have been completed where over 12,000 feet of water pipelines were replaced, with a total investment of $7.5 M approximately.  The next water main replacement project will begin design within the next couple of months. That has a budget of $3 to $4 M to replace and additional 7,000 feet of water pipelines. These water main replacement projects will continue annually.  As a note, water quality and system reliability is a top priority. The City also recently completed other significant projects to further improve the water system such as the $4.3 Million Reservoir Improvements Project,” the statement from Cervantes said.