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Is East Los Angeles, CA tap water safe?

2 utilities serve East Los Angeles, 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

1 of the 2 utilities serving East Los Angeles has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records: Los Angeles - City, Dept. of Water & Power.

California Water Service Co. - Ela, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029, 2 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: PFOS at 8.6 ppt, above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029.

The water from California Water Service Co. - Ela is hard to very hard depending on the source, 144 to 335 mg/L (8.4 to 19.6 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 East Los Angeles’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 California Water Service Co. - Ela’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 East Los Angeles

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

  • Positive Lab Service

    Los Angeles, CA · about 4 miles

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

    (213) 745-5312

  • Michelson Laboratories, Inc.

    Commerce, CA · about 5 miles

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

    (562) 928-0553

  • EMSL Analytical, Inc. (LA Testing)

    South Pasadena, CA · about 6 miles

    Certified for bacteria, asbestos

    (323) 254-9960

All 145 certified labs for California

ZIP codes in East Los Angeles

Which ZIP codes are in East Los Angeles: 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 East Los Angeles

Other towns in Los Angeles County with a page of their own.

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