Is Ferndale, CA tap water safe?
The short answer
Neither of the 2 utilities serving Ferndale has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records.
Riverside CSD, which serves the most people here, has nothing above a health goal in EPA’s and California’s records. That data covers what its report lists, not everything.
The water from Riverside CSD is hard, typically 140 mg/L (8.2 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 Ferndale’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Riverside CSD
California · serves 333 people · under 100 in Ferndale
Nothing in its records is above a health goal. Hardness: hard, typically 140 mg/L (8.2 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Waddington W.W.
California · serves 75 people · under 100 in Ferndale
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 0.78 ppb, above the health goal. Hardness: hard, 132 mg/L (7.7 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Ferndale
The 2 labs California certifies closest to Ferndale, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory
Eureka, CA · about 21 miles
Certified for bacteria
Microbac Laboratories, Inc. - Arcata
Arcata, CA · about 30 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts
ZIP codes in Ferndale
Which ZIP codes are in Ferndale: 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 Ferndale
Other towns in Humboldt County with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Riverside CSD’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- Decide if you want a filter at allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water