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Is Alturas, CA tap water safe?

2 utilities serve Alturas, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and California’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

2 of the 2 utilities serving Alturas have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records: City of Alturas and California Pines C.S.D..

City of Alturas, which serves the most people here, has 3 results above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic at 4.7 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from City of Alturas is moderately hard to very hard depending on the source, 87 to 183 mg/L (5.1 to 10.7 grains per gallon). How California’s water compares.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Alturas’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in City of Alturas’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Alturas

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab California certifies.

No lab California certifies is within 75 miles of Alturas on the state’s list. Some take samples by mail; the state’s page lists them all.

All 145 certified labs for California

ZIP codes in Alturas

Which ZIP codes are in Alturas: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology.

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