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Is Cottonwood, CA tap water safe?

6 utilities serve Cottonwood, 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 6 utilities serving Cottonwood have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records: Cottonwood Water District, Greenfield County WD and Saddleback Mutual Water Co..

Cottonwood Water District, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic at 1.7 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from Cottonwood Water District is soft to moderately hard depending on the source, 38 to 69 mg/L (2.2 to 4 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 Cottonwood’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 Cottonwood Water District’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 Cottonwood

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 Cottonwood, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Aemtek, Inc.

    Modesto, CA · about 18 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (510) 979-1979

  • Institute of Environmental Health, Inc. dba IEH-JL Analytical

    Modesto, CA · about 21 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (209) 538-8111

  • Microbac Laboratories, Inc. - Turlock

    Turlock, CA · about 23 miles

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

    (707) 822-4649

All 145 certified labs for California

ZIP codes in Cottonwood

Which ZIP codes are in Cottonwood: 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 Cottonwood

Other towns in Kern County with a page of their own.

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