Water Quality FAQs

It is very difficult to separate taste from odor because these two human senses are so closely related. Most occurrences of a peculiar taste or odor in the water can be grouped into one of the following three categories: 

• Chlorinous, bleachy, chemical, and medicinal: A common cause for a chlorinous, bleachy, chemical, or medicinal taste or odor in the water: the small addition of chlorine to the water by the District to make sure that the water is clean and safe to drink.
• Sulfurous (rotten egg-like), decayed, and sewage-like: Two common causes of a sulfurous decayed, or sewage-like taste or odor in the water are bacteria growing in your drain or bacteria growing in your water heater.
• Musty, moldy, or earthy: A common cause of a musty, moldy, or earthy taste or odor in the water is bacteria growing in your drain.

Causes of tastes or odors in water must be carefully investigated. Please be prepared to answer the following questions when reporting this problem to us at 831-475-8500:

• What is the location of the premises where the taste or odor occurred?
• When was the taste or odor first detected?
• Is the taste or odor in the hot or cold water, or both?
• How would you describe the taste or odor?

The answers to these questions will assist us in finding the cause of the taste or odor and will also suggest corrective steps to take. A customer service representative should respond to calls regarding taste and odor within one business day.

Cloudy water could be a result of dissolved air in the water, which is a common and harmless condition. To verify this, place the cloudy water in a glass and observe whether it clears from the bottom up (you may be left with bubbles on the side of the glass and a small surface layer of bubbles). If this occurs then you have dissolved air in the water.

If the cloudy water persists, or if you are noticing unusual tastes or odors, please call 831-475-8500 and give us your address and a telephone number so we can have a customer service representative contact you.

There is naturally-occurring fluoride groundwater. In the Capitola-Soquel area, the average amount is 0.22 milligrams per liter (mg/L) and in the Aptos-Rio Del Mar-La Selva Beach area, the average amount is 0.13 mg/L.

The District does not add any additional fluoride to the water.

Some possible causes of problems with water which appears dirty, has an unusual color, or sediment/particles include:

• Sediments or pipe materials from breaks in water mains or hydrants. Water mains in the distribution system can fail due to age, corrosion, high pressure surges, or damage by construction work. Hydrants can also be broken off by vehicles.
• High flows can occur in water mains due to fire fighting, water system tests, or maintenance. Unusual high-flow conditions can stir up sediment or scale from water mains.
• Construction activities: the customer’s service connection from the distribution main to the water meter is sometimes disturbed by construction activities of contractors or other utilities.
• Aging galvanized plumbing: rust particles or scale from galvanized steel home plumbing can also produce reddish-brown water or rust particles, particularly noticeable when a tap is first turned on.

Reporting Problems

Since there are many causes of dirty water, the District investigates each complaint carefully. Please be prepared to answer the following questions when reporting this problem to 831-475-8500:

• What is the location of the premises where the dirty water occurred?
• When was the dirty water first detected?
• What does the water look like? Does it have color?
• Are both the cold and hot water dirty?
• Is the water dirty at all faucets?
• Are the particles large, small, or colored; does the water look milky or contain air?
• Have you had plumbing work done recently on either hot or cold water lines?

The answers to these questions will assist us in finding the cause of the dirty water and may also suggest corrective steps to take. District Customer Service Representatives respond to calls regarding water which appears to be dirty, colored or has foreign particles, within one business day.

The white film is the residue of hardness and other minerals in the water. When the water is heated or evaporates, the minerals leave a white coating on items such as showerheads, shower doors, glasses, coffee pots, etc.

Although harmless, most people don’t appreciate a white film on these household items. Many customers install a water softener unit. In terms of cleaning hard water spots, there are several cleaning products on the market made specifically for its removal. A "green" alternative is warm vinegar. Soaking in vinegar can help dissolve the spots. Make sure you rinse the items carefully after the vinegar "bath" before using them. This method is less practical for shower doors. In the case of shower doors, prevention is the best medicine. Wipe down the doors with a sponge or towel after every shower.

The District pumps groundwater from several different sources (wells) positioned throughout the District’s service area. Not all wells are actively pumping at the same time, and since each well has its own baseline hardness value, each service area has a range of hardness values, listed below (based on 2017 water hardness data).

• In the District’s western-most areas of Capitola/Soquel - from about 41st Avenue to Park Avenue - the range of water hardness is about 150 to 370 parts per million (ppm), or 9 to 22 grains per gallon (gpg).
• In the Soquel/Aptos areas of the District - from about Park Avenue to State Park Drive - the range of water hardness is about 140 to 300 ppm, or 8 to 17.5 gpg.
• In Aptos/Rio del March areas of the District - from about State Park Drive to March Monte Avenue - the range of water hardness is about 150 to 200 ppm, or 9 to 12 gpg.
• In the La Selva Beach area - from about March Monte Avenue to Sand Dollar Drive - the range of water hardness is about 100 to 200 ppm, or 6 to 12 gpg.

It is advisable to program the dishwasher beginning at the lower end of the designated range and then adjust upward as necessary.

Hard water is simply water that contains two harmless minerals — calcium and magnesium. Water is considered "hard" if it measures more than 120 parts per million or 7.0 grains per gallon.

Although hardness does not affect the safety of the water, some customers may find it to be inconvenient. The minerals may make the water hard to develop a sudsy lather. Hardness minerals may also contribute to scaling in teapots, spots on dishes and residues on plumbing fixtures and glass shower doors.

To find out the most recent hardness number, read the District’s annual consumer confidence/water quality report. 

Lead in Drinking Water Regulations

Regulatory measures taken during the last two decades have greatly reduced human exposure to lead in drinking water.

• In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act. This law requires the EPA to determine the level of contaminants in drinking water at which no adverse health effects are likely to occur with an adequate margin of safety.
• In 1991, the EPA published a regulation to control lead and copper in drinking water. This regulation is known as the Lead and Copper Rule. The EPA revised the regulation in 2000 and 2007.
• Limits on the amount of lead that can be used in plumbing products have also been set. These requirements were first enacted federally in 1986 and then reduced to even lower levels by California in 2006.

Additional Resources

• County of Santa Cruz Public Health's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
  Phone: 831-763-8412 
  Visit: 1430 Freedom Blvd, Suite A, Watsonville, CA 95076
• Fact Sheet for lead in water by CDPH
• National Lead Information Center
  Phone: 800-424-LEAD

Lead is a naturally occurring metal that is harmful if inhaled or swallowed. Lead can be found in air, soil, dust, food, and water.

AWWA has created a new whiteboard explainer animation that helps consumers understand where lead comes from, how it gets into water, and what households can do to keep their water lead-safe. Please note that the District has not found any lead service lines from our water mains to the meters.

The most common source of lead exposure is from paint in homes and buildings built before 1978. Lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust are the main sources of exposure for lead in U.S. children. Lead-based paints were banned for use in housing in 1978.

Although the main sources of exposure to lead are ingesting paint chips and inhaling dust, lead also can be found in some household plumbing materials and some water service lines. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 10 to 20% of human exposure to lead may come from lead in drinking water. Infants who consume mostly mixed formula can receive 40 to 60% of their exposure to lead from drinking water.

Lead can cause a variety of adverse health effects when people are exposed to it. These effects may include increases in the blood pressure of some adults; delays in normal physical and mental development in babies and young children; and, deficits in the attention span, hearing, and learning abilities of children.

Lead is uncommonly found naturally in source water. More commonly, lead leaches into water over time through corrosion-a dissolving or wearing away of metal caused by a chemical reaction between water and your plumbing. Lead can leach into water from pipes, solder, fixtures, faucets (brass) and fittings. Lead service lines and pipes have not been found to be used in construction in the District, so sources of lead in our drinking water are primarily limited to solder and fixtures. The amount of lead in your water depends on the types and amounts of minerals in the water, how long the water stays in the pipes, the water’s corrosivity, and water temperature.

The EPA has set an Action Level for lead at 15 micrograms per liter (or parts per billion). At least 90% of samples taken (the 90th percentile) must be less than 15 micrograms per liter. The Action Level for copper is 1.3 milligrams per liter (or parts per million).

In accordance with the Lead and Copper Rule, Soquel Creek Water District has been regularly testing the water at a selected number of higher-risk homes since 1993 and has never exceeded the Action Level. These homes were constructed using copper pipes with lead solder prior to the 1986 federal ban on lead solder. Our monitoring is conducted in accordance with regulatory requirements and guidance.

The 90th percentile results of the District’s most recent monitoring (2016) were well below the Action Levels. The 90th percentile lead was not detected at or above the State detection level (5 micrograms per liter). The 90th percentile copper concentration was 0.37 milligrams per liter. A total of 31 homes were tested. Lead was detected above the State detection level in only one of the 31 samples (at 7.9 micrograms per liter), and none of the copper concentrations from the 31 homes were above the Action Level.

If the Action Level is exceeded, water utilities are required to notify all of its customers and provide instructions on what to do to limit lead exposure as required by the EPA. In addition, the EPA requires water systems to control the corrosiveness of their water if the level of lead at home taps exceeds the Action Level.

Helpful Resources

For more information, the American Water Works Association has created a video on how water utilities look for lead and copper in the water supply.

If you’re concerned your home plumbing may contain lead in its pipes or fittings, you may want to have your water tested by a state-certified laboratory. Testing is the only way to confirm if lead is present or absent. For more information on testing your water, contact a drinking water laboratory. Here are three in our area:

• Soil Control Lab, Watsonville, 831-724-5422
• Monterey Bay Analytical Services, Monterey, 831-375-MBAS (6227)
• Bolsa Analytical Lab, Hollister, 831-637-4590

For more information, please visit the California Division of Drinking Water’s Lead Sampling in Drinking Water for Individual Homeowners webpage.

There are many steps you can take to reduce your exposure to lead in drinking water:

• Run your water to flush out lead. If it hasn’t been used for several hours, run the water for three to five minutes to clear most of the lead from the water. To conserve water, remember to catch the flushed tap water for plants, cleaning or flushing toilets.
• Always use cold water for drinking, cooking, and preparing baby formula. Never cook with or drink water from the hot water tap. Never use water from the hot water tap to make baby formula.
• Do not boil water to remove lead. Boiling water will not reduce lead.
• Periodically remove and clean the faucet screen/aerator. While removed, run the water to eliminate debris.
• You may consider investing in a point-of-use home water treatment device. When purchasing a water treatment device, make sure it is certified under NSF/ANSI 53 to remove lead. You can check to see if the device is registered for sale in California.
• Identify and replace plumbing fixtures containing lead. Brass faucets, fittings and valves may leach lead into drinking water. Products sold in California after 2010 must by law contain very low levels of lead.
• Have a licensed electrician check your wiring. Your home electrical system may be attached to your service line or elsewhere in your plumbing. If this connection is electrified, it can accelerate corrosion. Check with a licensed electrician to correct ground faults and evaluate your local electric code to determine if your wiring can be grounded elsewhere. Do not attempt to change the wiring yourself because improper bonding or grounding can cause electrical shock and fire hazards.

Children at risk of exposure to lead should be tested. Your doctor can perform a simple blood test to determine your child’s blood-lead level.

Read the information about District’s annual consumer confidence/water quality report.

As a result of a permit action by the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water, school administrators may request that their public water system collect and analyze up to five water samples at each Kindergarten through 12 school served by the water system. The public water system and/or the State Water Resources Control Board can also provide technical assistance if an elevated lead sample site is found. Schools can only request through October 2019 for a one-time sampling.

In 2024, California tightened its standards on acceptable levels of chrome-6 (hexavalent chromium or chromium 6) in potable water to 10 parts per billion (ppb). 

Because Soquel Creek Water District exceeded the new MCL in three wells in the seascape area, we were required to send out the notice to all customers. The State of California is requiring municipalities, businesses, and schools to notify consumers about the updated standards and the agency's level of compliance with them. 

Chrome-6 (also called hexavalent chromium or chromium 6) is a form of the element chromium that occurs naturally in the environment. It is found in certain rocks and soils and can enter groundwater as these materials break down. 

Chromium is a naturally occurring metallic element found in rocks, soil, plants, volcanic dust, and even animals. In our area, chromium is present in the rocks and sediments of the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin, especially in the Aromas Red Sands aquifer. 

Naturally occurring arsenic is a metallic mineral that is found in the Earth's crust. It is commonly found in groundwater. The United States Geologic Survey estimates that almost half of groundwater in the U.S. contains naturally occurring arsenic greater than 1 part per billion (ppb), with about 10% exceeding 10 ppb.

In January 2006, the United States Environmental Protection Agency reduced the federal Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for arsenic in drinking water from 50 ppb to 10 ppb. In November 2008, California followed suit, revising its State MCL to 10 ppb. More information from the California Division of Drinking Water about arsenic in drinking water can be found here.

The District's drinking water sources include 16 active, two standby, and two inactive groundwater production wells. Only two of these wells have had historical arsenic above California's Detection Limit for Purposes of Reporting (DLR), which is set at 2.0 ppb, and none of the District's wells contain arsenic at or above the MCL. In fact, all arsenic levels are one-half or less than the MCL. Even though the arsenic levels are well below the drinking water standard, in 2003, the District began an investigation to treat (reduce) the detectable levels of arsenic. Treatment began in 2006 at one plant and at a second plant in 2007.

The District operates two treatment plants that reduce the amount of arsenic that is delivered to customers. The treatment plant technology is based on oxidation with sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) and ferric chloride to enhance the ability of arsenic to be filtered out through the filter media (anthracite and sand).