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Is San Luis Obispo, CA tap water safe?

9 utilities serve San Luis Obispo, 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 9 utilities serving San Luis Obispo have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records: Lopez Project and Higuera Apartments.

San Luis Obispo Water Department, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above the health goal. The worst: Uranium at 10.3 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from San Luis Obispo Water Department is hard to very hard depending on the source, 174 to 455 mg/L (10.2 to 26.6 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 San Luis Obispo’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 San Luis Obispo Water Department’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 Luis Obispo

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

  • Fruit Growers Laboratory, Inc.

    San Luis Obispo, CA · about 1 mile

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 783-2940

  • Abalone Coast Analytical, Inc.

    San Luis Obispo, CA · about 2 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 595-1080

  • County of San Luis Obispo Public Health Laboratory

    San Luis Obispo, CA · about 2 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 781-5507

All 145 certified labs for California

ZIP codes in San Luis Obispo

Which ZIP codes are in San Luis Obispo: 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 San Luis Obispo

Other towns in San Luis Obispo County with a page of their own.

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