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Puresource Water, Inc

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
210 people
Connections
77
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Aptos, CA
County
Santa Cruz
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

95003

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 2015 to 2025.

Fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate: California’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 13, 2020 to Jan. 13, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Feb. 12, 2014 to Feb. 12, 2014. 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

4.1ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 4.1 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

0.025ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.025 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.05 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 yearly average of 0.16 ppm, in 2019.

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)
  • Nitrate
  • 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.”

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, typically 286 mg/L (16.7 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, 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 16.7 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.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Puresource Water, Inc’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 Jan. 13, 2020 to Jan. 13, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from Feb. 12, 2014 to Feb. 12, 2014.

Testing your own tap

Puresource Water, Inc’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 Puresource Water, Inc 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 8 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (831) 454-4624

  • Bracewell Engineering, Inc.

    Morgan Hill, CA · about 15 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (669) 258-5821

  • CM Analytical, Inc.

    Gilroy, CA · about 18 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (408) 848-3619

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4400598. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Santa Cruz County

All California utilities

What to do next