Is Palm Springs, CA tap water safe?
The short answer
Neither of the 2 utilities serving Palm Springs has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records.
Desert Water Agency, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Uranium at 18.4 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.
The water from Desert Water Agency is soft to very hard depending on the source, 34 to 330 mg/L (2 to 19.3 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 Palm Springs’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Desert Water Agency
California · serves 75,588 people · about 42,200 in Palm Springs
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Uranium at 18.4 ppb, above the health goal. Hardness: soft to very hard depending on the source, 34 to 330 mg/L (2 to 19.3 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Mission Springs WD
California · serves 43,484 people · about 270 in Palm Springs
2 results above the health goal. The worst: Uranium at 20.1 ppb, above the health goal. Hardness: moderately hard to very hard depending on the source, 62 to 360 mg/L (3.6 to 21.1 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Palm Springs
The 3 labs California certifies closest to Palm Springs, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Babcock Laboratories, Inc.
Riverside, CA · about 42 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS, radioactivity
BSK Associates - San Bernardino Analytical Laboratory
San Bernardino, CA · about 43 miles
Certified for bacteria
Clinical Laboratory of San Bernardino, Inc.
Grand Terrace, CA · about 45 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, radioactivity
Which ZIP codes are in Palm Springs: 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 Palm Springs
Other towns in Riverside County with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Desert Water Agency’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- About UraniumWhat it does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Uranium
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water