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Sunset Beach 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
182 people
Connections
65
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Watsonville, CA
County
Santa Cruz
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

95076

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Nitrate, 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 2016 to 2025.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): California’s own results, samples taken from July 5, 2022 to July 1, 2025.

Nitrate: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from April 3, 2013 to April 3, 2013. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal2

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

12.4ppm

Highest sample; found in 2 of 2

2013 average: 7.0 ppm

One sample, in 2013, was above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm, at 12.4 ppm. No follow-up sample at that point within 30 days is on file. 10 ppm is also EPA’s health goal. That is the only year on file, and its two samples averaged 7.0 ppm. EPA recorded no violation for nitrate at this utility from 2012 to 2019.

What handles it

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

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.4ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.4 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 limits2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

14ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025, one sample: 9.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 14 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 9.9 ppb.

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

2.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.1 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

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: Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge), Lead Reduction

    For: Nitrate, Lead

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Nitrate, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Nitrate

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

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There is 1 monitoring or reporting violation: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are California’s own from 2022 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Nitrate comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Sunset Beach 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 July 5, 2022 to July 1, 2025; EPA’s compliance samples are from April 3, 2013 to April 3, 2013.

Testing your own tap

Sunset Beach 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 Sunset Beach Mutual Water Co serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • CM Analytical, Inc.

    Gilroy, CA · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (408) 848-3619

  • Bracewell Engineering, Inc.

    Morgan Hill, CA · about 14 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (669) 258-5821

  • Santa Cruz County - Health Services Agency - Environmental Health

    Santa Cruz, CA · about 15 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (831) 454-4624

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4400599. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Santa Cruz County

All California utilities

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