Consumers in La Cañada Flintridge and La Crescenta as well as the county communities of Pasadena and Altadena are requested to reduce their water use, including refraining from outdoor watering, while a major imported water pipeline is taken out of service for eight days beginning today, Thursday, Feb. 21. The outage is scheduled to last until Feb. 28.

Supplies for about 250,000 people in the affected communities will be limited during the shutdown.

Residents can visit www.mwdh2o.com and www.bewaterwise.com for the latest information on the planned shutdown as well as water-saving tips. During the shutdown, regular updates on the upgrade work will be posted on the websites.

One of the oldest water lines operated and maintained by Metropolitan, a portion of the Upper Feeder delivers treated drinking water from the district’s F. E. Weymouth Water Treatment Plant in LaVerne to foothill cities and communities in eastern Los Angeles County from Pomona to Glendale.

Debra C. Man, Metropolitan’s chief operating officer and assistant general manager, said the district routinely schedules shutdowns of its facilities in the winter and early spring, when temperatures usually are cooler and demands are lower, to complete inspections and perform maintenance and upgrades with the least impact on consumers.

“One of the biggest challenges to ensuring reliable deliveries is the constant need to repair and upgrade aging facilities,” Man said, noting that more than 40% of the district’s water system is over 60 years old. Construction of the Upper Feeder, which is comprised of tunnels, mortar-lined pipelines, and buried steel pipelines, started in 1933 and ended when water was first delivered to Pasadena in November 1941.

In preparation for the shutdown, residents and businesses are asked to do their part to ensure reservoirs and local supplies aren’t drawn down. Depending on the availability of local supplies, water conservation steps include no outdoor watering, hand-washing vehicles, filling swimming pools or spas, or hosing down driveways and sidewalks. Other water-saving measures include running only full loads in washing machines and dishwashers, not leaving the tap running when washing dishes, keeping showers to a maximum of five  minutes and not leaving the water running while brushing teeth or shaving.