BALTIMORE — Lake Montebello's water level is being lowered to facilitate Montebello Plant upgrades.
Baltimore City Department of Public Works said that the water level of Montebello Lake is being lowered so it can handle 55 million more gallons of pretreated water from the plant.
DPW said the lake will temporarily look different, with more rocks, branches, and debris exposed.
There will also be "a more profound earthy or stale odor of the water at the east end of the Lake."
These changes may be seen over the next two weeks.
The upgrades are being done to enhance quality control and help Public Works continue meeting federal and state regulations for safe drinking water.
Following the dewatering, a 30 day shutdown of the plant is expected to begin in late October. Plant upgrades will be complete in November 2022.
DPW stated it is important to note that Montebello Lake is not a drinking water source.
It is a settling basin for water discharged from filtration processes at the Montebello Filtration Plants.
