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Aaa Kindness Care Home

What EPA’s and California’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
30 people
Connections
2
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Santa Maria, CA
County
Santa Barbara
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

93454

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Nitrate, above the legal limit. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): California’s own results, samples taken from Aug. 17, 2020 to July 8, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

13ppm

Highest sample; found in 35 of 35

2026 average: 6.7 ppm

From 2024 to 2025, three samples were above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm, the highest 13 ppm in 2024. The next sample at the same point, within 30 days, kept the average above the limit for two; one has no follow-up sample on file within 30 days. In 2026, the latest year on file, its eight samples averaged 6.7 ppm. EPA recorded a violation for nitrate at this utility in 2025. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 8.2 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Below EPA’s limits1

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.59ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.59 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Lead
  • Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claim: Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)

    For: Nitrate

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction

    For: Nitrate

    Other certifiers’ wording: Nitrate

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, 530 mg/L (31 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2021 to 2024.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 31 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?California water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
NitrateThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 14, 2025 to April 1, 202512 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Aaa Kindness Care Home’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; California’s results run from Aug. 17, 2020 to July 8, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Aaa Kindness Care Home’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab California certifies.

The 3 labs California certifies closest to the area Aaa Kindness Care Home serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Oilfield Environmental & Compliance Inc. (OEC)

    Santa Maria, CA · about 10 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (805) 922-4772

  • Clinical Laboratory of San Bernardino II

    Lompoc, CA · about 22 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 737-7300

  • Abalone Coast Analytical, Inc.

    San Luis Obispo, CA · about 32 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 595-1080

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4200969. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Santa Barbara County

All California utilities

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