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Tierra Verde MWC

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
48 people
Connections
16
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Salinas, CA
County
Monterey
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

93908

The short answer

1 result is above the limit’s level with no violation recorded, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the limit’s level, no violation. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2018 to 2025.

Arsenic, nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total): California’s own results, samples taken from Nov. 24, 2020 to April 28, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from May 8, 2017 to May 8, 2017. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the limit’s level, no violation recorded1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the limit’s level, no violation

12.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 12.4 ppb, in 2026, above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb. Its highest single sample was 14.4 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. EPA judges this limit on running averages at each sampling point, and recorded no violation for arsenic at this utility since 2020. Results like these with no violation often include water sampled before treatment or blending; the utility’s annual report says what reaches the tap. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 8.1 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.9ppb

90th percentile, 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.9 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 limits3

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.2ppm

Highest sample; found in 7 of 7

2025, one sample: 2.9 ppm

The highest sample, in 2021, was 3.2 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 2.9 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 3.4 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.2ppm

Highest yearly average, 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.2 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.19 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.2 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.53 ppb, in 2012.

What handles it

One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • 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.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Arsenic, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Arsenic, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

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

Hardness

Very hard, 399 mg/L (23.3 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2024.

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 23.3 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 4 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total) 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. Tierra Verde MWC’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. 24, 2020 to April 28, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from May 8, 2017 to May 8, 2017.

Testing your own tap

Tierra Verde MWC’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 Tierra Verde MWC serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Monterey County Consolidated Environmental Laboratory

    Salinas, CA · about 4 miles

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

    (831) 755-4516

  • Monterey Bay Analytical Services, Inc.

    Monterey, CA · about 13 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, radioactivity

    (831) 375-6227

  • CM Analytical, Inc.

    Gilroy, CA · about 24 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (408) 848-3619

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA2700775. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Monterey County

All California utilities

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