Pacific Palisade residents and businesses will be able to use water safely this week, Mayor Karenbus announced Thursday, touting the milestone as a sign of speedy efforts to rebuild the devastated neighborhood.

The “Don’t Drink” notification will be lifted on Friday, the two-month anniversary of the fatal Palisade fire after LA Water and Power engineers and experts have confirmed the lack of contaminants in their water supply.

Bass evaluated that the DWP crew worked seven days a week to recover and flush toxins from the water supply, and drink advisory was maintained until May 2020 compared to the wildfires at Paradise in November 2018.

“It took 18 months to catch the tragic camp fire. Bass said at a press conference at the Palisades Recreation Center. “I am committed to rebuilding this community with lightning.”

Janisse Quiñones, chief engineer and CEO of DWP, said Palisades residents and businesses should flush the system for at least 10 minutes and turn on all spigots, showers and faucets before using water on Friday. Customers will receive $50 in credit on the following bill: “There’s no need to worry about running water costs,” Quiñones said.

“We washed the system all the way down to the meter,” Keignon said. Kinneen called on residents to finish the flushing process inside the home and eliminate remaining contaminants. “You wash it off and when the water is cleaned in your structure, you’ll see that the water from the meter is clean. So you should be good.”

Residents and businesses can drink, shower and cook just like they did before the wildfire.

At the Parisa des Recreation Centre, Bass and city officials also highlighted progress in recovery efforts since the January 7th flame destroyed thousands of homes and killed 12 people. Noting that the Environmental Protection Agency completed debris removal last week in a third of its initial projection, Bass said 60 properties are currently in phase 3.

Bass thanked the Trump administration for “moving staff and resources very quickly.”

Both Bass and DWP chiefs have reiterated their commitment to “underground” the Palisades power lines. Some of the Palisades, including some streets in the Highlands and Castella Mare, already had underground power lines. DWP engineers began planning the move about a week after the January 7 fire, and designed a new 4,000-foot underground line so far “ready for construction.”

“The goal is to have all the Palisades in new underground infrastructure, with power infrastructure,” Quiñones said.

Underground lines are protected from wind, falling branches and lightning, reducing the risk of causing wildfires.

DWP plans to have an 80-mile electric line underground throughout the Pallisard area. This could take several years. Each miles on the underground electric line costs between $1 million and $4 million, and Quiñones said the utility is evaluating how it funds the overall installation.

Meanwhile, Quiñones said the utility rebuilt its distribution system, replaced 800 electric poles, and restored power to almost every customer.

As of Thursday, 143 customers in the “hard-to-reach areas” of the hillside remained without the presence of the coastal area, Kinyoung said.