WATER QUALITY

The City is committed to producing a high quality drinking water to our customers. To maintain our commitment to you, we routinely collect and test water samples. A summary of this testing is provided in the City’s Annual Water Quality Report.

Chloramination

Disinfection is an important step in ensuring that water is safe to drink. Different types of disinfection include chlorination, chloramination, ultraviolet light, and ozone. Only chlorine and chloramine provide a residual disinfectant, meaning that the disinfectant remains in the water, providing ongoing protection as the water travels through the distribution system to your home or office. State regulations require that a disinfectant residual be present in the distribution system for protection of public health.

The City receives State Water from the Central Coast Water Authority. The water from the State Water Project contains a chloramine residual when it is delivered to the City. CCWA has put together a chloramination fact sheet that can be accessed by clicking here.

Discolored Water

Why Isn’t My Water Clear? The City strives to deliver crystal clear water. Sometimes, that’s not what the customer sees. Following are explanations on why your water may not be clear.

Cloudy Water: Entrained air causes water to look cloudy. If you fill up a glass and the water appears cloudy, set the glass down and watch it for a few moments. You will likely see the water gradually clear up, starting from the bottom of the glass. This air is harmless.

White Crystals: White crystals are usually calcium deposits. These crystals form when water containing calcium sits in pipes or is heated up. The crystals are harmless, and dissolve in vinegar.

Brown or Red Water: Sand grains and bits of rust from metal water system components accumulate in the bottom of the pipes over time. A rush of water through the pipe will re-suspend these deposits and can carry them to your home or office. The City works to minimize this from happening by flushing out the pipes on a regular basis. However, if you experience this problem, wait 15 minutes to let the material settle back out, then run the water again. These deposits are not harmful, but can leave unsightly spots on laundry. If your water is brown or red for a short time every time you turn on the faucet, it is likely from old, galvanized household plumbing.

Blue Water: The most common cause of blue water is from homes that use a toilet bowl cleaner that is tinted blue. A drop in household water pressure from a broken line or a shutdown of the water supply to the house can draw the water from the toilet tank back into the household plumbing. The toilet bowl cleaner is not made to be consumed, so flush water out of the pipes until it runs clear again before drinking it.

Hardness

Hardness is a measure of the concentration of calcium and magnesium in the water. Because groundwater is in contact with rocks and minerals, it absorbs those minerals, causing groundwater supplies to have more hardness than most surface waters, which come from lakes and streams fed by rainwater.

The hardness of the water causes no health problems, and is a source of calcium and magnesium in the diet. However, calcium in the water is deposited on dishware and other surfaces, causing spots. The City imports State Water, which is lower in hardness than the local supply, to provide a water supply that has a lower hardness. In the water industry, hardness is usually discussed in units of milligrams per liter (mg/L); however, water softener manufactures usually refer to hardness in units of grains per gallon (gpg). One grain per gallon is equivalent to 17.1 milligrams per liter. The table below shows the hardness of various local water sources.