Drinking water quality · 2023
· Verified
· PWSID CA4410010
What's in Santa Cruz Water Department — Santa Cruz, Ca, CA tap water
1 contaminant in Santa Cruz Water Department — Santa Cruz, Ca, CA's water sat at or above a federal limit, led by HAA5 at 1.0x the limit.
- !1 contaminant at or above a federal limit — worst is HAA5 at 1.0x
- !1 contaminant within 20% of a limit
- !12 of 27 core regulated contaminants reported — 15 never appear in this report
- ✓No open federal violations
+How this score is calculated
Every system starts at 100. Points come off for measured levels, for the federal violation record, and for how much of the core regulated set the utility actually reported. All three inputs are the utility's own published numbers and EPA's own records.
- −13 contaminants at or above a federal limit
- −4 contaminants within 20% of a limit
- −0 open health-based violations
- −0 open monitoring / reporting violations
- −0 health-based violations resolved in the last 5 years
- −11 core regulated contaminants never reported (12/27)
A 90–100 · B 80–89 · C 70–79 · D 60–69 · F below 60. A system reporting under a third of the core set is capped at C however clean its numbers look — a short report is not a clean bill of health.
Full grading methodology, constant for constant →What to worry about
- HAA51.0× the federal limit2–62 ug/L · limit 60 ug/L
Long-term exposure above the federal limit is associated with an increased cancer risk.
Higher than 95% of CA systems that report it · higher than 95% of U.S. systems
- TTHM90% of the federal limit9–72 ug/L · limit 80 ug/L
Long-term exposure above the federal limit is linked to liver, kidney, and central-nervous-system effects and increased cancer risk.
Higher than 95% of CA systems that report it · higher than 90% of U.S. systems
+26 contaminants were measured and came in below the limitShow all
| Contaminant | Measured | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFOS | 0–2.2 ng/L | 4 ng/L |
| Chlorine | 0.08–1.54 mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid | 0–2.1 ng/L | 10 ng/L |
| Copper | 0.23 mg/L | 1.3 mg/L |
| Fluoride | 0.59 mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| Arsenic | 0–0.92 ug/L | 10 ug/L |
| Nitrate | 0.14–0.35 mg/L | 10 mg/L |
| Barium | 0.03–0.04 mg/L | 2 mg/L |
| Chlorate | 300 ug/L | 800 ug/L |
| Aluminum | 0–0.04 mg/L | — |
| Calcium | 65–88 mg/L | — |
| Chromium, Hexavalent | 0.07–0.29 ug/L | — |
| Lead | Not detected ug/L | 15 ug/L |
| Lithium | 18–54 ug/L | — |
| Magnesium | 26–28 mg/L | — |
| Potassium | 4.1–7.9 mg/L | — |
| Silica | 68–75 mg/L | — |
| Sodium | 28–50 mg/L | — |
| Vanadium | 0–0.002 mg/L | 0.05 mg/L |
| Escherichia coli (E. coli) | 0 | — |
| Total Coliform | 1 | 0 |
| Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid | 0–1.7 ng/L | 500 ng/L |
| Alkalinity | 174–196 mg/L | — |
| Hardness | 172–316 mg/L | — |
| pH | 7.9–8.2 | — |
| TOC | 1–2.3 mg/L | — |
What this report doesn't tell you
15 of the 27 contaminants a community water system normally reports do not appear anywhere in Santa Cruz Water Department — Santa Cruz, Ca, CA's data. Absent is not the same as absent-from-the-water — it means nobody published a number.
+Full detail: PFAS testing, water source, historical monitoring, and the federal violation record
Compliance history
Federal Safe Drinking Water Act violation & enforcement records (EPA SDWIS). A violation is a regulatory determination by the state or EPA — separate from the measured levels above.
- Treatment technique violationHealth-based4 violations on record · most recent May 2000resolved
Source: EPA SDWIS / ECHO. View the full federal record on EPA ECHO ↗