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Is San Carlos, CA tap water safe?

2 utilities serve San Carlos, 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 San Carlos has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records.

California Water Service - San Carlos, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 5.8 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

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 San Carlos’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 - San Carlos’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 San Carlos

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

  • San Mateo County Public Health Laboratory

    San Mateo, CA · about 3 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (650) 573-2500

  • Eurofins Built Environment Testing West-Burlingame

    Burlingame, CA · about 8 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (623) 298-1015

  • Garratt-Callahan Laboratory

    Burlingame, CA · about 9 miles

    Certified for nitrate, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (650) 697-5811

All 145 certified labs for California

ZIP codes in San Carlos

Which ZIP codes are in San Carlos: 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.