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Davenport County Sanitation

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
350 people
Connections
110
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Santa Cruz, CA
County
Santa Cruz
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

95017

The short answer

3 results are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2015 to 2026.

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, chromium (total) and fluoride: California’s own results, samples taken from July 8, 2020 to Jan. 21, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Aug. 9, 2017 to Aug. 14, 2018. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal3

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.3 ppb, in 2025: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 6.5 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.76 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.7ppb

90th percentile, 2024 to 2026

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.7 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.53ppb

Highest yearly average, 2017 to 2018

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.53 ppb, in 2018: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 1.2 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

52ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 52 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 57.5 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

36ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 36 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 40.5 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.34ppm

Highest sample; found in 2 of 14

2025: not found

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.34 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.42 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride

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

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Arsenic, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction, Uranium

    For: Arsenic, Lead, Uranium

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. 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

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Hardness

Soft to moderately hard depending on the source, 60 to 62 mg/L (3.5 to 3.6 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, 2019 to 2025.

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, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?California water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, chromium (total) and fluoride results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Davenport County Sanitation’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and 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 July 8, 2020 to Jan. 21, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from Aug. 9, 2017 to Aug. 14, 2018.

Testing your own tap

Davenport County Sanitation’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 Davenport County Sanitation serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Santa Cruz County - Health Services Agency - Environmental Health

    Santa Cruz, CA · about 15 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (831) 454-4624

  • Torrent Laboratory, Inc

    Milpitas, CA · about 28 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS

    (408) 263-5258

  • San Mateo County Public Health Laboratory

    San Mateo, CA · about 29 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (650) 573-2500

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4400571. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Santa Cruz County

All California utilities

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