Is San Diego tap water safe to drink?
SAN DIEGO, CITY OF supplies 1,385,379 people here, drawing surface water. Here is its entire federal compliance record — and, just as importantly, what that record cannot tell you.
People served
1,385,379
SAN DIEGO, CITY OF
Source
surface water
SW
Violations on record
12
all time
Health-based
0
none on record
SAN DIEGO, CITY OF has citations on its record, but none for exceeding a health limit.
These are monitoring and paperwork failures, not contamination. Nothing here is a reason to spend money. If you filter, do it because you dislike the taste — which is a real reason and a cheap one to fix.
Probably nothing
We make our money when you buy something through us, so read this in that light: there is nothing on this utility’s record that justifies spending. If the water tastes off to you that is a real problem worth a $28 pitcher, and if you drink a lot of it the calculator will tell you whether a plumbed system pays for itself on cost alone. Neither is about safety here.
Every violation, most recent first
| From | Contaminant | What happened | Health-based |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-04-01 | EPA contaminant code 8000 | missed required monitoring | no |
| 2020-03-01 | EPA contaminant code 8000 | missed required monitoring | no |
| 2020-02-01 | EPA contaminant code 8000 | missed required monitoring | no |
| 2020-01-01 | EPA contaminant code 8000 | missed required monitoring | no |
| 2019-12-01 | EPA contaminant code 8000 | missed required monitoring | no |
| 2019-01-01 | EPA contaminant code 4109 | missed monitoring or reporting | no |
| 2017-01-01 | Nitrite (measured as Nitrogen) | missed monitoring or reporting | no |
| 2017-01-01 | Nitrite (measured as Nitrogen) | missed monitoring or reporting | no |
| 2014-01-01 | Nitrite (measured as Nitrogen) | missed monitoring or reporting | no |
| 2014-01-01 | EPA contaminant code 1041 | missed monitoring or reporting | no |
| 2013-01-01 | Nitrite (measured as Nitrogen) | missed monitoring or reporting | no |
| 2011-01-01 | EPA contaminant code 1041 | missed monitoring or reporting | no |
Every citation on this system is a monitoring or reporting failure rather than a health-based one — paperwork, not contamination. That is worth knowing before spending anything: it is not evidence you need a filter. Test your own tap for $14 and decide on the number, not on the utility's admin record.
What this record cannot tell you
This is a compliance record, not a water test. It describes the utility, not the pipe between the water main and your kitchen — which is where lead usually enters, and which no federal record covers. It also cannot tell you what is in your water today; a citation is a point in time. The measured levels are in your utility’s annual Consumer Confidence Report, which it must publish and which is free.
Source: US EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System, retrieved 2026-08-31 from data.epa.gov. Public water system CA3710020. Nothing on this page is written by hand — if a figure is not in EPA’s response, it does not appear here. All cities.