Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Tico 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
72 people
Connections
38
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Ojai, CA
County
Ventura
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

93023

The short answer

1 result is 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

Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and chromium (total): California’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 7, 2020 to July 1, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

11.3ppm

Highest sample; found in 550 of 550

2026 average: 7.3 ppm

From 2021 to 2026, seven samples were above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm, the highest 11.3 ppm in 2026. The next sample at the same point, within 30 days, kept the average above the limit for four; three came back under. 10 ppm is also EPA’s health goal. That was also the latest year on file, and its 48 samples averaged 7.3 ppm. EPA recorded no violation for nitrate at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 12.8 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

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

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

22ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025 average: 13 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 22 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 24 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 13 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 30.5 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.6ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023, one sample: 0.4 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.6 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2023, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.4 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.6 ppm, in 2014.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

6.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 6.5 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 13 ppb. 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 2.5 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Lead

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, 266 mg/L (15.5 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2020 to 2023.

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 15.5 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. Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and chromium (total) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Tico Mutual Water Co’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 Jan. 7, 2020 to July 1, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Fruit Growers Laboratory, Inc.

    Santa Paula, CA · about 19 miles

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

    (805) 392-2000

  • Capco Analytical Services

    Ventura, CA · about 19 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (805) 644-1095

  • Ventura County Public Health Laboratory

    Oxnard, CA · about 23 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 981-5131

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA5601122. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Ventura County

All California utilities

What to do next