Drinking water quality · 2024
· Verified
· PWSID CA5410016
What's in Visalia, CA tap water
2 contaminants in Visalia, CA's water sat at or above a federal limit, led by PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) at 1.7x the limit.
- !2 contaminants at or above a federal limit — worst is PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) at 1.7x
- !14 of 27 core regulated contaminants reported — 13 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.
- −34 contaminants at or above a federal limit
- −0 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
- −8 core regulated contaminants never reported (14/27)
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
- PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)1.7× the federal limit6.8999999999999995 ng/L · limit 4 ng/L
Linked to cancer, thyroid disease, and immune effects; the EPA set an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion.
Higher than 70% of CA systems that report it · higher than 70% of U.S. systems
- PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid)1.1× the federal limit4.2 ng/L · limit 4 ng/L
Linked to cancer, liver damage, and immune effects; the EPA set an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion.
Higher than 50% of CA systems that report it · higher than 45% of U.S. systems
+34 contaminants were measured and came in below the limitShow all
| Contaminant | Measured | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| Turbidity | 0.29 NTU | 1 NTU |
| Nitrate | 2.5 mg/L | 10 mg/L |
| Chlorine | 0.97 mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| HAA5 | Not detected ug/L | 60 ug/L |
| TTHM | Not detected ug/L | 80 ug/L |
| Chloride | 8.2 mg/L | — |
| Fluoride | Not detected mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| Sulfate | 8.6 mg/L | — |
| Aluminum | 0.0048 mg/L | — |
| Arsenic | Not detected ug/L | 10 ug/L |
| Calcium | 26 mg/L | — |
| Copper | Not detected mg/L | 1.3 mg/L |
| Lead | Not detected ug/L | 15 ug/L |
| Magnesium | 2.2 mg/L | — |
| Sodium | 17 mg/L | — |
| Vanadium | 9.1 ug/L | 50 ug/L |
| Total Coliform | 0 | — |
| Pce | Not detected ug/L | 5 ug/L |
| Perfluoropentanesulfonic acid (PFPeS) | 0.19 ng/L | — |
| Alkalinity | 85 mg/L | — |
| Color | 1.7 | — |
| Hardness | 73 mg/L | — |
| Odor | Not detected | — |
| pH | 7.5 | — |
| Specific Conductance | 226 | — |
| Total Dissolved Solids | 151 mg/L | — |
| Combined Radium | Not detected pCi/L | 5 pCi/L |
| Gross Alpha | Not detected pCi/L | 15 pCi/L |
| Uranium | 1.8 pCi/L | 20 pCi/L |
| DBCP | Not detected ng/L | 200 ng/L |
| PFPeA | 34 ng/L | — |
| PFHxA | 15 ng/L | — |
| PFBS | 4.3 ng/L | — |
| PFBA | 28 ng/L | — |
What this report doesn't tell you
13 of the 27 contaminants a community water system normally reports do not appear anywhere in Visalia, 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
PFAS — EPA UCMR5 (2023–2025)
2 PFAS compounds above EPA limits in Visalia, CA
The EPA finalized the first-ever federal drinking-water limits for six PFAS compounds in April 2024. These numbers come straight from EPA's UCMR5 lab dataset — every U.S. system serving more than 3,300 people tested every PFAS sample at an entry point to its distribution system. PFAS not listed below were either tested and not detected, or not yet sampled.
PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)
● Over EPA limit (1.7×)PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid)
● Over EPA limit (1.1×)PFPeA
● Detected (no federal limit)PFHxA
● Detected (no federal limit)PFBS
● Detected (no federal limit)PFBA
● Detected (no federal limit)Where your water comes from · EPA SDWIS
Visalia, CA's drinking water comes from ground water, drawn from 60 sources.
Source
- WELL 83-01 - BEFORE _GAC-TCP
- WELL 16-02 - BEFORE_GAC-TCP
- WELL 82-01 - BEFORE_GAC-TCP
- WELL 12-01 - RAW
- + 56 more
Treatment
- WELL 30-01 - CL2
- WELL 82-01 - GAC_EFF-TCP
- WELL 81-01 - CL2
- + 53 more
Distribution
Also buys water from TULARE COUNTY CIVIC CENTER.
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.
- Maximum contaminant level exceededHealth-based2 violations on record · most recent Oct 1992resolved
Source: EPA SDWIS / ECHO. View the full federal record on EPA ECHO ↗