Whisked off to the laboratory, it is spun, filtered, dyed, cultured, spectrophotometered, chromatographed, subjected to dozens of tests - scientifically prodded and probed until it gives up its secrets.

The job of Metropolitan's water quality team is to safeguard the public health at reasonable cost to the consumer. And they take that job very seriously.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water quality standards must be met by all states, California laws set restrictions that may be even stiffer, and Metropolitan's own standards often are the strictest of all. During a year's time, MWD performs more than 300,000 tests, checking its water for more than 200 possible compounds. The district always has met state and local standards with flying colors.

The microbiology and reservoir management staff continually monitor water in Met's seven reservoirs - which often means diving for samples - to be certain even the slightest contaminant is noted. The chore of making certain the district's water contains no harmful bacteria requires that they examine some 85,000 water samples each year. They also control algae, which poses no health risk but which can give water an unpleasant taste or odor.

Whereas much of what keeps the district on the leading edge of water quality has been up-to-the-minute technology: A major contribution comes from two of man's oldest means of detection: the nose and the tongue.

Our senses can be quick and surprisingly accurate in spotting substances that have managed to sneak into water in amounts as low as a few parts per trillion - if the Rose Bowl were filled with water, 10 added drops would be one part per trillion.

Six members of the laboratory staff have been trained to sniff and taste water using a taste-and-odor profile originally developed for the food industry. And, state-of-the-art computers assist the continual effort to measure, monitor and guard the water.

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