Tap water · CA
San Diego Public Utilities Department
EPA system ID CA3710020 · serves about 1,385,379 people. Every US utility must publish an annual water quality report — here’s the official one (2025), and below it, our plain-English translation.
Read the official report →What San Diego Public Utilities Department found in 2025
36 detected analytes from the utility’s own annual report, hand-normalized — nothing was near or over a federal health-based limit.
| Detected | Level | Limit | % of limit | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM's) | 55 ppb | 80 ppb | 69% | Within limit |
| Specific Conductance | 968 μS/cm @ 25ºC | 1,600 μS/cm @ 25ºC | 61% | Within limit |
| Total Filterable Residue (TDS) | 585 ppm | 1,000 ppm | 59% | Within limit |
| Copper (90th percentile) | 0.6 ppm | 1.3 ppm | 46% | Within limit |
| Disinfectant Residual (Chloramines as Cl2) | 1.75 ppm | 4 ppm | 44% | Within limit |
| Fluoride (treatment-related) | 0.8 ppm | 2 ppm | 40% | Within limit |
| Bromate | 3.4 ppb | 10 ppb | 34% | Within limit |
| Odor - Threshold | 1 OU | 3 OU | 33% | Within limit |
| Chlorite | 0.33 ppm | 1 ppm | 33% | Within limit |
| Sulfate | 162 ppm | 500 ppm | 32% | Within limit |
| Chloride | 156 ppm | 500 ppm | 31% | Within limit |
| Gross Alpha Particle Activity | 4.4 pCi/L | 15 pCi/L | 29% | Within limit |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | 15 ppb | 60 ppb | 25% | Within limit |
| Fluoride (naturally occurring) | 0.5 ppm | 2 ppm | 25% | Within limit |
| Uranium | 2.2 pCi/L | 20 pCi/L | 11% | Within limit |
| Gross Beta Particle Activity | 5.1 pCi/L | 50 pCi/L | 10% | Within limit |
| Barium | 0.1 ppm | 1 ppm | 10% | Within limit |
| Aluminum (average purchased treated) | 19 ppb | 200 ppb | 10% | Within limit |
| Color | 1 CU | 15 CU | 7% | Within limit |
| Total Coliform Bacteria | 0.13 % Positive | 5 % Positive | 3% | Within limit |
| Aluminum | 0.02 ppm | 1 ppm | 2% | Within limit |
| Hexavalent Chromium | 0.1 ppb | 10 ppb | 1% | Within limit |
| Total Hardness | 243 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Chlorate | 206 ppb | — | — | No federal limit |
| Alkalinity - Total as CaCO3 | 121 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Sodium | 111 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Lithium — 2023 monitoring | 49.5 ppb | — | — | No federal limit |
| Total Hardness (average otay wtp) | 14.2 gr/Gal | — | — | No federal limit |
| Total Hardness (average miramar wtp) | 14.1 gr/Gal | — | — | No federal limit |
| Total Hardness (average alvarado wtp) | 13.8 gr/Gal | — | — | No federal limit |
| Total Hardness (average purchased treated) | 8.5 gr/Gal | — | — | No federal limit |
| pH | 8.4 SU | — | — | No federal limit |
| Perfluorobutanoic Acid (PFBA) | 5.4 ppt | — | — | No federal limit |
| Total Organic Carbon (TOC) | 4.3 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Boron | 0.4 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Turbidity (highest) | 0.14 NTU | — | — | No federal limit |
Levels and limits are as printed in the utility’s report (“limit” is the EPA MCL, action level, residual limit, or secondary guideline that applies to that row; “ND” = not detected). Utilities publish these reports annually — we re-check every covered utility each July, after the federal publication deadline. Detected doesn’t mean dangerous — most detections sit far below their limits. This is education, not medical advice.
Your tap, if it were a bottle
How San Diego Public Utilities Department water stacks up against the bottled aisle
Same minerals, same units — the tap values below come from the utility’s report, placed next to the closest match in our bottled-water database.
| Mineral | Your tap | Closest bottled match |
|---|---|---|
| Sodium | 111 mg/L | Villavicencio at 110 mg/L |
| Sulfate | 162 mg/L | Crazy Water at 171 mg/L |
| Chloride | 156 mg/L | Staatl. Fachingen at 139 mg/L |
Tap values are the headline levels from the utility’s annual report (often a highest or average figure); bottled values are label- or report-derived. A closest match is a numeric comparison, not an equivalence or an endorsement.
Zip codes covered
92037 · 92038 · 92101 · 92102 · 92103 · 92104 · 92105 · 92106 · 92107 · 92108 · 92109 · 92110 · 92111 · 92113 · 92114 · 92115 · 92116 · 92117 · 92119 · 92120 · 92121 · 92122 · 92123 · 92124 · 92126 · 92128 · 92129 · 92130 · 92131 · 92139 · 92154 · 92173
Boundary zips partially served by other systems are deliberately unlisted — check your exact zip.