Water quality

A commitment to quality

As always, we are committed to delivering the highest quality drinking water to all our residents. We have rigorous safeguards in place to make sure that our tap water meets or surpasses all health standards, and we are pleased to announce that our compliance with state and federal drinking water regulations remains exemplary. And that's not all.

Award winning water

Year after year, we have earned international recognition for our award winning tap water. In 2024, our tap water once again earned the title of the nation’s best-tasting and highest-quality tap water!

Santa Ana has struck gold in the municipal water category three times at the renowned Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition. It's a significant achievement, demonstrating that Santa Ana's tap water is a cut above the rest. This triple gold win is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our Water Resources Division.

Our certified specialists ensure that your tap water meets and exceeds the strictest federal and state drinking water regulations. With over 120 different constituents tested and thousands of quality tests performed annually, you can trust that every drop from your tap is of the highest quality.

As a Santa Ana resident, you can be assured that your water not only exceeds the drinking water health standards required by both state and federal agencies, it is among the best tasting water on tap!

Past Awards*

• Gold Medals in 2014 and 2018
• Silver Medals in 2021 and 2012
• Bronze Medal in 2011
• Fourth-place finishes in 2020 and 2016

* Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Festival

Water quality report

Each year, the City of Santa Ana releases its Water Quality Report, also known as the annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). The CCR details important information to help residents make health-based decisions about their drinking water. The centerpiece of the report is a chart summarizing the different types of constituents found in the water Santa Ana delivers, the range and average of each constituent measured, and how it compares with the allowable state and federal limits. Please visit SantaAnaCCR.org where you can view information online, print articles and tips, and access our archives of CCRs dating back to 2006. Please visit SantaAnaCCR.org where you can view information online, print articles and tips, and access our archives of CCRs dating back to 2006. Download a copy of the most recent one in English or Spanish.

Public health goal report

The California Health and Safety Code mandates a report be prepared every three years comparing drinking water quality with Public Health Goals (PHG's) adopted by California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A "PHG" is the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to human health. This Public Health Goal Report is intended to provide information to the public in addition to Annual Water Quality Reports made available to residents.

We are proud that each year Santa Ana complies with all of the health-based drinking water standards and Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) required by the California Department of Public Health and the EPA.

Lead

The most common source of lead in tap water is the plumbing in your home. Read the facts. Download a copy of the most recent one in English or Spanish.

Ensuring safe lead and copper levels

In November 2023, the U.S. EPA unveiled proposed revisions to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for lead and copper, known as the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). These proposed changes build upon the 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) and the original 1991 Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). The proposal also includes improvements in corrosion control treatment, public education, and sampling in schools and childcare facilities.

Key changes—The proposal includes improvements in corrosion control treatment, public education, and sampling in schools and childcare facilities. Unlike previous efforts focused solely on corrosion control, the LCRI prioritizes mandatory lead service line replacement. This means that public water systems, including the City of Santa Ana, must conduct comprehensive inventories of service lines and develop plans to replace all lead service lines within 10 years, regardless of lead levels. Through the lead service line inventory, the City of Santa Ana confirmed that there are no known lead service lines within our service area.

Santa Ana’s compliance efforts—For Santa Ana residents, it’s essential to know that the city’s water mains are lead-free, and there are no known lead service lines connecting the mains to meters, which are owned and managed by the City. Rigorous testing consistently demonstrates that our water meets or exceeds all state and federal quality standards, including lead testing.

The City of Santa Ana diligently worked on the city-owned service line and customer-owned service line inventory. This involved going through water service records and surveying customer-owned water service lines throughout the city, identifying customer-owned areas with lead, and helping customers develop a comprehensive replacement plan. Click here to read more about this water service line inventory.

What are PFAS, PFOS, and PFOA?

Dating back to the 1940s, Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) have been commonly used to coat carpets, clothes, furniture, food packaging, cookware and other products. We’ve all encountered PFOA and PFOS in our daily lives. They were popular for their resistance to water, stains and food sticking, which made them particularly useful in cookware. They were also used in fire-fighting foams, cleaning products and industrial uses. PFOA and PFOS are part of a larger group of man-made chemicals referred to as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

PFAS are present in many common items that we come in contact with on a regular basis and water is just one of many ways that humans can be exposed to these substances. Santa Ana’s drinking water is safe and meets all quality standards set by both the state and federal government. Click here to learn more.

Does Santa Ana Test For PFAS?

Public health has always been a top priority for the City of Santa Ana. Following the DDW’s initial Notification and Response Levels for PFOA and PFOS, Santa Ana proactively tested for the presence of PFOA and PFOS in August 2018. Santa Ana’s Well 38, located near the Santiago Creek Recharge Basin, had detectable results above the Notification Levels but below the Response Level for PFOA and PFOS. Santa Ana voluntarily stopped serving the water from Well 38 in September 2018 and this well has remained out of service since then.

In March 2019, the California Division of Drinking Water (DDW) issued monitoring orders as part of a statewide phased PFAS Investigation Plan to determine the occurrence and extent of PFAS in California. As part of this statewide plan, the City of Santa Ana is conducting additional monitoring (sampling and testing). Santa Ana has retested its OPA-1 well 3 times. The monitoring results confirmed that Well 38 remains over the Notification Levels for PFOA (9.2 ppt average) and PFOS (13.95 ppt average). Santa Ana, in collaboration with Orange County Water District, is currently evaluating new treatment methods to remove PFOA and PFOS from groundwater.

What is Santa Ana doing to protect our drinking water from PFAS?

Santa Ana’s water is thoroughly treated and tested to ensure it meets some of the highest standards in the world. We watch closely for PFOA and PFOS in our water and will ensure that our city’s water meets or exceeds state and federal regulations. The following is part of our action plan related to PFAS:

• Continue monitoring PFOA and PFOS levels in our wells by conducting quarterly sampling of these sources.
• Make quarterly test results available to the public through our website.
• Notify local government officials of areas served by the city’s groundwater sources that have exceeded the Notification Levels for PFOA and PFOS.
• Stay current with State and Federal regulations to assure our drinking water is always safe for consumption.
• Make plans to remove any source of water that exceeds the Response Level for PFOA and PFOS, should that occur.
• Continue to review long-term solutions with the Orange County Water District.

Anyone with questions or concerns can contact the Water Resources Division at WaterInfo@santa-ana.org.

We’ve received reports of individuals going door to door pretending to be City of Santa Ana Water Quality employees.

These individuals might tell you that they need to check your water or come into your house to install a filter.

Please be aware that we will never come unannounced to your home to check the quality of your water. We take stringent steps to ensure the water we serve to our customers is safe, clean, and good tasting before it reaches your home.

If you ever have concerns about your water quality, please call us at (714) 647-3320.