Five local water utilities reported that Santa Clarita Valley ground water meets state standards for safe drinking.

Tap water in the Santa Clarita Valley is safe to drink. That’s the bottomline from the SCV 2014 Water Quality Report, published by the Castaic Lake Water Agency, Santa Clarita Water Division, Los Angeles County Waterworks District #36, Newhall County Water District and Valencia Water Company.

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These five local utilities are required by the California Department of Public Health to publish an annual report and make it available to customers.

The majority of contaminants that water utilities are required to report were below the “detection limit for reporting” in the SCV.

Categories of contaminants include organic and inorganic compounds, by-products of disinfection, radiological compounds, microbiological organisms, and metals such as lead and copper.

The report also addressed the levels of perchlorate in the water supply, a chemical used in rocket propellant, fireworks and explosives that has made news in recent years because it can affect the thyroid gland’s production of hormones and cause birth defects.

Perchlorate has been found in SCV well water, said Dan Masnada, general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, but those wells that are contaminated are either out of service or already have treatment in place.

“The supply that (is) being delivered to the users doesn’t have perchlorate in it,” he said.

The local perchlorate contamination comes from the former Whittaker-Bermite munitions testing and manufacturing site.

Water quality across the board has remained consistent throughout the years, in spite of the ongoing drought, Masnada said.

As water levels go down, the SCV might see a slight trend in harder groundwater with more dissolved solids, he said, but still within state standards.

Also of slight concern in the report were lead levels in the water.

Every three years, local water retailers are required to test the lead and copper levels at specific consumer taps, according to the report.

Lead levels were reported in the 90th percentile, which means that 10 percent or less of the samples collected were above the action level determined by the state.

But, the report also warned that lead levels could be higher in individual homes because of materials used in plumbing. Concerned residents are encouraged to have their water tested.

Water quality in the greater Los Angeles area varies depending on the source of water, Masnada said, including the State Water Project, the Colorado River Project and the L.A. Aqueduct.

He also said that the SCV is fortunate to only have one contaminant of concern–perchlorate–while other communities have more than one.

The number of contaminants is “driven by the population and (industrial) activity in the area,” he said.

For more information about the 2014 Water Quality Report and Santa Clarita Valley’s local water utilities, click here or contact the SCV Family of Water Suppliers.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

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