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Is Santa Barbara, CA tap water safe?

11 utilities serve Santa Barbara, 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 11 utilities serving Santa Barbara have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and California’s records: Ellwood Mutual Water Company and Lingate Lane Mutual Water Company.

City of Santa Barbara Water 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 42.5 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from City of Santa Barbara Water Department is soft to very hard depending on the source, 54 to 420 mg/L (3.2 to 24.6 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 Santa Barbara’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

1 more utility in Santa Barbara

By EPA’s estimate, each serves fewer people in Santa Barbara than those above.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in City of Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara

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

  • Capco Analytical Services

    Ventura, CA · about 34 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (805) 644-1095

  • Ventura County Public Health Laboratory

    Oxnard, CA · about 39 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 981-5131

  • Fruit Growers Laboratory, Inc.

    Santa Paula, CA · about 40 miles

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

    (805) 392-2000

All 145 certified labs for California

ZIP codes in Santa Barbara

Which ZIP codes are in Santa Barbara: 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 Santa Barbara

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

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