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Is Boulder Creek, CA tap water safe?

5 utilities serve Boulder Creek, 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

3 of the 5 utilities serving Boulder Creek have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records: San Lorenzo Valley Water Dist, Forest Springs and Bracken Brae Country Club.

San Lorenzo Valley Water Dist, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 32 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from San Lorenzo Valley Water Dist is soft to very hard depending on the source, 46 to 470 mg/L (2.7 to 27.5 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 Boulder Creek’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 San Lorenzo Valley Water Dist’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 Boulder Creek

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.

The 3 labs California certifies closest to Boulder Creek, 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 14 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (831) 454-4624

  • Torrent Laboratory, Inc

    Milpitas, CA · about 22 miles

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

    (408) 263-5258

  • AEMTEK, Inc

    Fremont, CA · about 25 miles

    Certified for bacteria, minerals and other inorganics

    (510) 979-1979

All 145 certified labs for California

ZIP codes in Boulder Creek

Which ZIP codes are in Boulder Creek: 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. Certified labs: California State Water Resources Control Board, ELAP accredited laboratories and their fields of accreditation; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Boulder Creek

Other towns in Santa Cruz County with a page of their own.

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