Salinas 2019 Water Quality Report

Welcome

We encourage you to review this annual water quality report, also called your Consumer Confidence Report, as it details any constituents detected in your water supply in 2019 and shows how your water compares to federal and state standards.

If you have any questions, please Contact Us. We are here to assist you.

Your Water System

District: Salinas
System: Salinas
System ID: #2710010

Cal Water has provided high-quality water utility services in the Salinas area since 1962. Our customers receive groundwater produced by 31 wells and distributed through a system of four storage tanks, 14 booster pumps, and 300 miles of pipeline. We proactively maintain and upgrade our facilities to ensure a reliable, high-quality supply.

Our company-wide water quality assurance program includes vigilant monitoring throughout our systems and testing at our state-of-the-art laboratory. Our greatest water quality challenges in and around the Salinas area are nitrate levels, MTBE, and seawater intrusion. We are working closely with the state's Regional Water Quality Control Board and Monterey County Water Resources Agency to address these issues.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please contact our local Customer Center, either by phone at (831) 757-3644 or through the Contact Us page.

DWSAPP

By the end of 2002, Cal Water had submitted to the Division of Drinking Water (DDW) a Drinking Water Source Assessment and Protection Program (DWSAPP) report for each water source in the water system. The DWSAPP report identifies possible sources of contamination to aid in prioritizing cleanup and pollution prevention efforts. All reports are available for viewing or copying at our Customer Center.

The water sources in the Salinas system are considered most vulnerable to:

We encourage customers to join us in our efforts to prevent water pollution and protect our most precious natural resource.

The Water Quality Lab

Water professionals collect samples from throughout the water system for testing at our state-of-the-art water quality laboratory, which is certified each year through the stringent Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP). Scientists, chemists, and microbiologists test the water for 326 constituents with equipment so sensitive it can detect levels as low as one part per trillion. In order to maintain the ELAP certification, all of our scientists must pass blind-study proficiency tests for every water quality test performed. Water quality test results are entered into our Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), a sophisticated software program that enables us to react quickly to changes in water quality and analyze water quality trends in order to plan effectively for future needs.

Possible Contaminants

All drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk.

More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

The sources of drinking water (both tap and bottled) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or human activity.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

• Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
• Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
• Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
• Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, agricultural application, and septic systems.
• Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA and DDW prescribe regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. FDA regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immunocompromised people, such as those with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, those who have undergone organ transplants, and those with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders; some elderly people; and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice from their health care providers about drinking water. EPA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline.

About Lead

As the issue of lead in water continues to be top of mind for many Americans, Cal Water wants to assure you about the quality of your water. We are compliant with health and safety codes mandating use of lead-free materials in water system replacements, repairs, and new installations. We have no known lead service lines in our systems. We test and treat (if necessary) water sources to ensure that the water delivered to customer meters meets all water quality standards and is not corrosive toward plumbing materials.

The water we deliver to your home meets lead standards. However, if present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing (for example, lead solder used to join copper plumbing, and brass and other lead-containing fixtures).

Cal Water is responsible for providing high-quality drinking water to our customers' meters, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking.

If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested by a certified lab. More information about lead in drinking water can be found on the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Testing for Lead in Schools

The State of California required that all public schools built before 2010 test for lead in their drinking water by July 1, 2019. We are committed to supporting our school districts' efforts to protect students and ensure that the drinking water at their school sites are below lead limits. We worked with all school districts in our service area that serve kindergarten through 12th grade to develop sampling plans, test samples, and conduct follow-up monitoring, if needed, for corrective actions. We have published the total number of schools requesting testing from last year in this year's Water Quality report.

For more information, please see our Testing for Lead in Schools web page. For specific information regarding local school data, see the state web portal.

Lead and Copper Rule

The lead and copper rule requires us to test water inside a representative number of homes that have plumbing most likely to contain lead and/or lead solder to determine the presence of lead and copper or any action level exceedance (AL). An action level is the concentration of a contaminant which, when exceeded, triggers corrective actions before it becomes a health concern. If action levels are exceeded, either at a customer's home or system-wide, we work with the customer to investigate the issue and/or implement corrosion control treatment to reduce lead levels.

Lead Service Line Inventory (LSLI)

Protecting our customers' health and safety is our highest priority. As part of this commitment, we have been working to identify and replace any old customer water service lines and fittings that may contain lead. California Senate Bill (SB) 1398 requires all water utilities in California to develop an inventory of all distribution service line materials, and submit a list of known service lines to the state by 2018. A list of unknown service lines that may contain lead, along with a plan for replacement, is due to the state by July 1, 2020. Known lines are replaced as soon as possible.

More information regarding LSLI and specific data for each water system can be found on the state web site.

Key Definitions

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. Primary MCLs protect public health and are set as close to the PHGs (or MCLGs) as are economically and technologically feasible. Secondary MCLs (SMCLs) relate to the odor, taste, and appearance of drinking water.

In Compliance: Does not exceed any applicable MCL, SMCL, or action level, as determined by DDW. For some compounds, compliance is determined by averaging the results for one source over a one-year period.

Regulatory Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other required action by the water provider.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs are set by the EPA.

Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL): The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.

Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG): The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs are set by the EPA and do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.

Non-Detect (ND): The constituent was not detected.

Notification Level (NL) and Response Level (RL): Health-based advisory levels for unregulated contaminants in drinking water. They are used by DDW to provide guidance to drinking water systems.

Primary Drinking Water Standard (PDWS): MCLs and MRDLs for contaminants that affect health, along with their monitoring, reporting, and water treatment requirements.

Public Health Goal (PHG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. PHGs are set by the California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment without regard to cost or available detection and treatment technologies.

Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Table Introduction

Cal Water tests your water for more than 140 regulated contaminants and dozens of unregulated contaminants. This table lists only those contaminants that were detected.

In the table, water quality test results are divided into several major sections (as needed): "Primary Drinking Water Standards," "Secondary Drinking Water Standards," "State-Regulated Contaminants with Notification Levels," and "Unregulated Compounds." Primary standards protect public health by limiting the levels of certain constituents in drinking water. Secondary standards are set for substances that don't impact health but could affect the water's taste, odor, or appearance. Some unregulated substances (hardness and sodium, for example) are included for your information. The State allows us to monitor for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently. Some of our data, though representative, are more than one year old.

A list of codes found in the "Source" column and their definitions can be found at the bottom of this page.

Water Quality Table

Primary Drinking Water Standards
Microbiological	Year Tested	Unit	MCL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Distribution System-Wide		Source
						Highest Monthly
Total coliform (systems with >40 samples/month) (Total Coliform Rule)	2019	Positive samples	5%	(0)	Yes	0.87%		EN
Fecal coliform and E. coli	2019	Positive samples	11	(0)	Yes	0		FE
Radiological	Year Tested	Unit	MCL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Groundwater		Source
						Range	Average
Gross alpha2	2011-2019	pCi/L	15	(0)	Yes	ND-20	5.1	ER
Uranium	2014-2019	pCi/L	20	0.43 (0)	Yes	ND-18	5.5	ER
Inorganic	Year Tested	Unit	MCL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Groundwater		Source
						Range	Average
Arsenic3	2014-2019	ppb	10	0.004 (0)	Yes	ND-12	2.3	ER, OC
Barium	2017-2019	ppm	1	2 (2)	Yes	ND-0.13	ND	ER, OD
Chromium (total)	2017-2019	ppb	50	(100)	Yes	ND-12	ND	ER, SP
Fluoride	2017-2019	ppm	2	1 (4.0)	Yes	0.14-0.45	0.29	ER, FL
Nickel	2017-2019	ppb	100	12	Yes	ND-20	ND	ER, MF
Nitrate as N4	2019	ppm	10	10 (10)	Yes	0.47-10	4.0	ER, FR
Selenium	2017-2019	ppb	50	30 (50)	Yes	ND-10	ND	PG, ER
Lead and Copper	Year Tested	Unit	AL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Distribution System-Wide		Source
						90th Percentile	Samples > AL
Copper	2019	ppm	1.3	0.3	Yes	0.57	0 of 51	IC, ER, WD
Lead	2019	ppb	15	0.2	Yes	ND	0 of 51	IC, IM, ER
Schools that requested lead sampling in 2019: 2
Volatile Organic Contaminants	Year Tested	Unit	MCL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Groundwater		Source
						Range	Average
Tetrachloroethylene (PCE)	2017-2019	ppb	5	0.06 (0)	Yes	ND-0.97	ND	FD
Disinfection Byproducts	Year Tested	Unit	MCL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Distribution System-Wide		Source
						Range	Highest Annual Average
Haloacetic acids	2019	ppb	60	n/a	Yes	ND	ND	DI
Total trihalomethanes	2019	ppb	80	n/a	Yes	ND-4.4	3.2	DI
Disinfectants	Year Tested	Unit	MRDL	MRDLG	In Compliance	Distribution System-Wide		Source
						Range	Average
Chlorine	2019	ppm	4	4	Yes	ND-1.7	1.0	DS
Secondary Drinking Water Standards
Inorganic	Year Tested	Unit	SMCL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Groundwater		Source
						Range	Average
Chloride	2016-2019	ppm	500	n/a	Yes	41-259	99	RU, SW
Color	2013-2019	UNITS	15	n/a	Yes	ND-3.0	ND	OM
Specific conductance	2016-2019	US	1600	n/a	Yes	580-1500	938	SW, IO
Iron	2016-2019	ppb	300	n/a	Yes	ND-220	ND	RU, IW
Odor	2013-2019	T.O.N.	3	n/a	Yes	ND-2.0	ND	OM
Sulfate	2017-2019	ppm	500	n/a	Yes	22-340	116	RU, IW
Total dissolved solids5	2017-2019	ppm	1000	n/a	Yes	350-1000	584	RU
Turbidity	2013-2019	NTU	5	n/a	Yes	ND-0.58	0.14	SO
Zinc	2014-2019	ppm	5	n/a	Yes	ND-0.06	ND	RU, IW
State Regulated Contaminants with Notification Levels
Contaminants	Year Tested	Unit	NL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Groundwater		Source
						Range	Average
Boron	2018	ppm	1	n/a	Yes	ND-0.48	ND	UR
Hexavalent chromium6	2011-2019	ppb	n/a	0.02	Yes	ND-7.2	4.0	UR
Vanadium	2017-2019	ppb	50	n/a	Yes	4.6-21	12	UR
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule UCMR
Inorganic	Year Tested	Unit	MCL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Groundwater		Source
						Range	Average
Bromochloroacetic acid	2019	ppb	n/a	n/a	Yes	ND-0.30	ND	UR
Dibromoacetic acid	2019	ppb	n/a	n/a	Yes	ND-0.87	ND	UR
Unregulated Compounds
Inorganic	Year Tested	Unit	MCL	PHG (MCLG)	In Compliance	Groundwater		Source
						Range	Average
Alkalinity (total)	2017-2019	ppm	n/a	n/a	Yes	150-320	206	UR
Calcium	2017-2019	ppm	n/a	n/a	Yes	30-180	82	UR
Hardness (total)	2017-2019	ppm	n/a	n/a	Yes	101-650	314	UR
Potassium	2017-2019	ppm	n/a	n/a	Yes	1.5-6.8	3.2	UR
Magnesium	2017-2019	ppm	n/a	n/a	Yes	6.4-52	28	UR
Sodium	2017-2019	ppm	n/a	n/a	Yes	41-130	69	UR
pH	2019	Units	n/a	n/a	Yes	6.60-8.00	7.32	PH

1 The MCL for fecal coliform and E. coli is exceeded when a routine sample and a repeat sample are total coliform positive, and one of these is also E. coli positive.

2 Some groundwater wells in Salinas contain naturally occurring gross alpha particle activity in excess of the MCL and have tested as high as 20 ppb; however, the system average of 5.1 ppb is well under the MCL. Cal Water closely monitors gross alpha particle activity. Certain minerals are radioactive and may emit a form of radiation known as alpha radiation. Some people who drink water containing α-emitters in excess of the MCL over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer.

3 In one sample collected from one site in 2019, arsenic was detected at 12 ppb, exceeding the MCL. The well was immediately taken offline and resampled. The resample’s result was 2.75 ppb, well below the MCL. The site remained below the MCL for the rest of the year, as reflected in the average. Some people who drink water containing arsenic in excess of the MCL over many years may experience skin damage or circulatory system problems, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.

4 The average nitrate level was 4.0 ppm, with a maximum level of 10 ppm. We are closely monitoring the nitrate levels. Nitrate in drinking water at levels above 10 ppm is a health risk for infants of less than six months of age. Such nitrate levels in drinking water can interfere with the capacity of the infant’s blood to carry oxygen, resulting in a serious illness; symptoms include shortness of breath and blueness of the skin. Nitrate levels above 10 ppm may also affect the ability of the blood to carry oxygen in other individuals, such as pregnant women and those with certain specific enzyme deficiencies. If you are caring for an infant or you are pregnant, you should seek advice from your health care provider.

5 In one TDS sample collected, the value was greater than the SMCL; however, this is in compliance as the average is less than the SMCL. The SMCL was set to protect you against unpleasant aesthetic effects, such as color, taste, odor, and the staining of plumbing fixtures and clothing when washed. Exceeding this SMCL does not pose a health risk.

6 The previous MCL of 0.010 mg/L (10 ppb) for hexavalent chromium was withdrawn on September 11, 2017, and there is currently no MCL in effect.

Substance Sources

Thank You

A full-color, printable version of this report in PDF format is also available.

If you have any questions about your water quality table, please Contact Us.