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Hidden Meadow Mutual Water Co

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
45 people
Connections
18
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Scotts Valley, CA
County
Santa Cruz
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

95066

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, 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 2017 to 2026.

Arsenic and nitrate: California’s own results, samples taken from Nov. 2, 2021 to Dec. 2, 2025, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from June 15, 2017 to June 15, 2017. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.65ppb

90th percentile, 2024 to 2026

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.65 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

Below EPA’s limits1

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.12ppm

Highest yearly average, 2017

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.12 ppm, in 2017, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Nitrate

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.”

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 water filters for lead, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, 278 mg/L (16.3 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2026.

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 16.3 grains per gallon, 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. There are 2 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic and nitrate results here are California’s own from 2021 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Hidden Meadow Mutual Water Co’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 Nov. 2, 2021 to Dec. 2, 2025; EPA’s compliance samples are from June 15, 2017 to June 15, 2017.

Testing your own tap

Hidden Meadow Mutual Water Co’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 Hidden Meadow Mutual Water Co 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 5 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (831) 454-4624

  • Bracewell Engineering, Inc.

    Morgan Hill, CA · about 21 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (669) 258-5821

  • Torrent Laboratory, Inc

    Milpitas, CA · about 25 miles

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

    (408) 263-5258

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4400645. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Santa Cruz County

All California utilities

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