Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Is Long Beach, CA tap water safe?

2 utilities serve Long Beach, 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

Neither of the 2 utilities serving Long Beach has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records.

Long Beach Utilities Department, which serves the most people here, has 3 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 54 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from Long Beach Utilities Department is soft to very hard depending on the source, 11 to 280 mg/L (0.6 to 16.4 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 Long Beach’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 Long Beach Utilities Department’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Long Beach

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

  • Long Beach Public Health Laboratory

    Long Beach, CA · about 1 mile

    Certified for bacteria

    (562) 570-4080

  • Alpha Analytical Laboratories, Inc. - Los Angeles

    Signal Hill, CA · about 1 mile

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (424) 267-5032

  • Applied Microbiological Services (AMS)

    Long Beach, CA · about 3 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (562) 495-9500

All 145 certified labs for California

ZIP codes in Long Beach

Which ZIP codes are in Long Beach: 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 Long Beach

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

What to do next