Water Quality
Providing our customers with safe, high quality drinking water is a main priority of the Yorba Linda Water District (YLWD/District). The water we provide is safe and meets all quality standards set by both the State and Federal government. In accordance with the Safe Water Drinking Act of 1996, the District continues to monitor more than 100 compounds in your water supply. Additional information can be found in the latest version of our Water Quality Report, also known as the Consumer Confidence Report.
Not long ago detection of foreign matter in water in the parts-per-million range was considered state of the art. Today, parts-per-billion are measured on a routine basis and parts–per–trillion seems to be the prevailing inclination. The ability to measure possible contaminants at this level allows water agencies to carefully monitor water quality and ensure that public drinking water supplies remain safe. Our dedicated Water Quality staff continuously monitors the water supply, collecting more than 2,000 laboratory tests each year from water taken from 37 sample points and 10 wells throughout the District.
The District currently tests more than 140 water samples taken from homes, businesses, and other locations for potential microbial contaminants every month. The District’s groundwater wells are also tested regularly for microbial, physical, and chemical contaminants. Imported water obtained from the Colorado River and northern California is tested by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to ensure that this water is also of the highest quality.
Orange County Water District, the agency responsible for managing local groundwater, conducts a basin-wide water well monitoring program for toxic, organic, and inorganic contaminants. OCWD’s water quality laboratory provides YLWD and other groundwater producers access to high-quality lab resources for its well water monitoring program.
Metropolitan Water District is the regional agency that brings the Colorado River and Northern California to Southern California. Metropolitan continually tests samples of this water at its water quality laboratory. This laboratory is considered to be one of the finest of its kind in the world. Metropolitan treats all the imported water it provides to YLWD using a three-stage process. This ensures that this water always meets the same stringent water quality standards that our groundwater does.
Learn More About Your Water Quality
Flouride
While there is naturally occurring fluoride in our water, YLWD does not add fluoride to its drinking water supplies. The fluoride content in our groundwater averages 0.5 parts per million, while the level in water imported from the Colorado River and Northern California averages 0.8 parts per million.
Since YLWD’s water supply is made up of approximately 30% water from MWD and 70% groundwater, our water has fluoride levels in the range of 0.5 to 0.8 parts per million (milligrams per liter) depending on the source of water served in your area at any given time. Because YLWD’s wells already contain a level of fluoride close to the recommended amount, YLWD does not add additional fluoride to our water.
Lead and Copper Rule
The 2021 federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) is intended to protect public health by reducing lead and copper levels in drinking water. Under the LCRR public water systems are required to complete the following by the October 16th compliance deadline: 1) conduct an initial water service line inventory to identify pipe materials on the customer side and the utility’s side; 2) make the inventory accessible to the public, if there are any known lead or unknown pipe materials; and 3) implement Tier 1 public notification of a lead action level exceedance, if applicable.
Non-Lead Service Line Material Designation Statement:
YLWD has completed the Lead Service Line Initial Inventory (LSLI) required by U.S. EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions LCRR.
Through completing a historical records review and field investigations, YLWD has determined it has no lead or galvanized requiring replacement service lines in its distribution system. This includes any privately-owned or customer-owned service lines.
YLWD reviewed all applicable sources of information, including:
- Available plumbing codes to assess historical regulation of lead service lines locally (e.g. National Lead Ban, State Codes, County Codes, the Codes and Standards of the incorporated cities before the statewide lead ban in 1986 including Placentia, Anaheim, Brea, and Yorba Linda), Plumbing/Building permits dating as far back as the 1980s.
- Water system records which indicate the service line materials, tax assessor records, county parcels, historical capital improvement or master plans, and standard operating procedures including Yorba Linda County Water District water main installation standards in 1972 and 1969.
- Water distribution system records which indicate the service line materials, GIS data, distribution system maps and drawings, as-builts, historical lead and copper tap sampling results from 1991-2021, meter installation records, work orders, inspections conducted during the course of normal operations including inspection records dated as far back as the 1960s.
In addition to reviewing the above sources of information, YLWD used an alternative method to develop the LSLI that was approved by the State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water on a case-by-case basis.
YLWD used both indirect interpolation and stratified random sampling approaches to develop the LSLI. Both approaches involve physically inspecting a representative subset of service lines to confirm non-lead materials, with the indirect interpolation approach being more suitable for homogeneous communities. The subset is stratified or divided into groups based on certain characteristics (e.g., years the service lines were installed). Stratification allows for a sample or subset of service lines to be more representative of the service lines in the distribution system.
YLWD inspected 3 service lines on the utility-side, 1,089 service lines on the customer-side, and 188 service lines on both sides and the service lines were inspected non-lead. After investigating the subset of service lines, if no lead or galvanized requiring replacement service lines are discovered, the remaining service lines may be assumed non-lead with a certain level of confidence.
YLWD intends to document service line material information obtained from normal operations, such as service line repair or replacement, after October 2024 and will update the LSLI accordingly as required by the LCRR.
Additional Resources Regarding LCRR
