California water quality by city

By Daryna Klochko · Data checked Oct 15, 2026
Short answer

We cover 21 California cities so far: Anaheim, Berkeley, Fresno, Irvine, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Mountain View, Oakland, Palm Springs, Palo Alto, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, South Lake Tahoe, Sunnyvale and Ventura. Statewide, EPA’s UCMR 5 testing covered 707 water systems. Of these, 239 had at least one PFAS detected, and 168 had a PFOA or PFOS sample at or above 4.0 ppt, the level of the federal limit.

Systems tested707UCMR 5 · 434 large systems
Any PFAS detected23934% of systems tested
PFOA or PFOS ≥ 4 ppt168At least one sample, 2023–2025
Cities covered21Pages with full data

A single sample at or above 4.0 ppt is not a violation. The PFOA and PFOS limits apply to a running annual average, and utilities must comply from 2029. City numbers describe the water system, not your tap.

California cities

Listed A–Z. We don’t rank cities: utilities sample in different years and at different points.

Anaheim Public Utilities · 350,254 people

Anaheim

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOS up to 29 ppt HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs3 (0 health-based) EBMUD · 1,468,000 people

Berkeley

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5No PFOA/PFOS; 2 other PFAS Hardness14–160 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrsNone City of Fresno · 545,970 people

Fresno

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOS up to 30 ppt Hardness129 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrsNone IRWD · 450,323 people

Irvine

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5No PFOA/PFOS; 2 other PFAS HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs1 (0 health-based) Long Beach Utilities · 466,772 people

Long Beach

Lead · 90th pct1 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs1 (0 health-based) LADWP · 3,875,566 people

Los Angeles

Lead · 90th pct3.9 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected Hardness103–236 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrs1 (1 health-based) City of Mountain View · 81,340 people

Mountain View

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrsNone EBMUD · 1,468,000 people

Oakland

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5No PFOA/PFOS; 2 other PFAS Hardness14–160 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrsNone Desert Water Agency · 75,588 people

Palm Springs

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected Hardness30–340 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrs1 (0 health-based) City of Palo Alto Utilities · 67,658 people

Palo Alto

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrsNone City of Sacramento · 527,979 people

Sacramento

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOS up to 41.4 ppt Hardness83 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrsNone San Diego PUD · 1,408,937 people

San Diego

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected Hardness145–243 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrs8 (0 health-based) SFPUC · 848,019 people

San Francisco

Lead · 90th pct4.9 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected Hardness62 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrsNone San Jose Water · 1,039,920 people

San Jose

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOS up to 6.2 ppt Hardness99–288 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrs3 (1 health-based) City of Santa Barbara · 93,334 people

Santa Barbara

Lead · 90th pct2.5 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected Hardness44–464 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrsNone City of Santa Clara · 134,587 people

Santa Clara

Lead · 90th pct2.7 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrsNone Santa Cruz Water · 94,626 people

Santa Cruz

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrsNone Santa Monica Water · 90,729 people

Santa Monica

Lead · 90th pct1.4 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOA up to 4.6 ppt HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrsNone South Tahoe PUD · 30,089 people

South Lake Tahoe

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOA up to 6.1 ppt HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrsNone City of Sunnyvale · 157,566 people

Sunnyvale

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5Not detected HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrsNone Ventura Water · 112,285 people

Ventura

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5No PFOA/PFOS; 2 other PFAS HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs1 (1 health-based)

Find your water system by ZIP

A ZIP code can be served by more than one system. Your water bill names yours.

Hardness in California cities

Berkeley
14–160 mg/L (0.8–9.4 gpg)
Range, soft to hard
Fresno
129 mg/L (7.5 gpg)
Average, hard; range 87–150 mg/L
Los Angeles
103–236 mg/L (6.0–13.8 gpg)
Average by source, moderately hard to very hard
Oakland
14–160 mg/L (0.8–9.4 gpg)
Range, soft to hard
Palm Springs
30–340 mg/L (1.8–19.9 gpg)
Average by source, soft to very hard
Sacramento
83 mg/L (4.9 gpg)
Average, moderately hard; range 15–154 mg/L
San Diego
145–243 mg/L (8.5–14.2 gpg)
Average by source, hard to very hard
San Francisco
62 mg/L (3.6 gpg)
Average, moderately hard; range 8.1–112 mg/L
San Jose
99–288 mg/L (5.8–16.8 gpg)
Average by source, moderately hard to very hard
Santa Barbara
44–464 mg/L (2.6–27.1 gpg)
Average by source, soft to very hard

Classes: USGS. 1 gpg = 17.1 mg/L as calcium carbonate. City figures come from each utility’s report. No hardness figure in our sources for Anaheim, Irvine, Long Beach, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, South Lake Tahoe, Sunnyvale, Ventura.

PFAS testing in California

Between 2023 and 2025, EPA’s fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) had 707 California public water systems test for 29 PFAS and lithium. 239 systems (34%) reported at least one PFAS at or above the reporting level. 168 had at least one PFOA or PFOS sample at or above 4.0 ppt, the level of the federal limit.

Source: EPA UCMR 5 final occurrence data (Aug 2026 release). Counts exclude lithium.

PFAS testing in neighboring states: Arizona, Nevada and Oregon.

Sources

California State Water Resources Control Board, drinking water datawaterboards.ca.gov EPA UCMR 5 occurrence dataepa.gov EPA: find your utility’s water quality reportepa.gov How we researchMethod