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Live Oak Creek Mutual Water Company

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
13
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Gilroy, CA
County
Santa Clara
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Nitrate, above the legal limit. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and uranium: California’s own results, samples taken from Oct. 16, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

Above the legal limit1

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

20ppm

Highest sample; found in 8 of 8

2026 average: 13.2 ppm

From 2025 to 2026, seven samples were above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm, the highest 20 ppm in 2025. The next sample at the same point, within 30 days, kept the average above the limit for two; five have no follow-up sample on file within 30 days. In 2026, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 13.2 ppm, above the limit. EPA recorded a violation for nitrate at this utility in 2025.

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

0.17ppm

Highest yearly average, 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.17 ppm, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.18 ppm. That is the only 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
  • Uranium

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, typically 280 mg/L (16.4 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, in 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 at 16.4 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?California water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleOct. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 202516.5 MG/LArchived
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleOct. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 202511.5 MG/LArchived
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 uranium results here are California’s own from 2025 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Live Oak Creek Mutual Water Company’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 Oct. 16, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Live Oak Creek Mutual Water Company’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.

No lab California certifies is within 75 miles of the area Live Oak Creek Mutual Water Company serves on the state’s list. Some take samples by mail; the state’s page lists them all.

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4300829. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Santa Clara County

All California utilities

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