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Is Palo Alto, CA tap water safe?

8 utilities serve Palo Alto, 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

2 of the 8 utilities serving Palo Alto have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records: O'Connor Tract Co - Operative Water Co. and Stanford University.

City of Palo Alto, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above the health goal. The worst: Uranium at 3.6 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from City of Palo Alto is moderately hard to very hard depending on the source, 89 to 350 mg/L (5.2 to 20.5 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 Palo Alto’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 City of Palo Alto’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 Palo Alto

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

  • Torrent Laboratory, Inc

    Milpitas, CA · about 14 miles

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

    (408) 263-5258

  • AEMTEK, Inc

    Fremont, CA · about 14 miles

    Certified for bacteria, minerals and other inorganics

    (510) 979-1979

  • San Mateo County Public Health Laboratory

    San Mateo, CA · about 15 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (650) 573-2500

All 145 certified labs for California

ZIP codes in Palo Alto

Which ZIP codes are in Palo Alto: 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 Palo Alto

Other towns in Santa Clara County with a page of their own.

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