Water Quality
Drinking water provided by Olivenhain Municipal Water District meets or exceeds all state and federal water quality standards for drinking water. These requirements are much more stringent than those placed on bottled water. The water has a variety of naturally occurring minerals and also contains residual chlorine to ensure the high quality of the water as it passes through the pipes.

Each year, OMWD mails a Consumer Confidence Report to each of its customers. This report includes the results of water quality tests as well as an explanation of where our water comes from and tips on how to interpret the water data. We are proud to share our results with you.

Fluoride
Fluoride is a naturally occurring substance found in drinking water. OMWD does not add additional fluoride. The level of fluoride in the finished water is approximately 0.25 parts per million. This is well below the state maximum of 2 parts per million. More information about fluoride is available here.

Water Hardness
Water is considered hard when it contains high concentrations of calcium and magnesium. Though the presence of these minerals may make lathering with soap difficult or leave spots on dishes, hard water is safe to drink. These minerals can be reduced using softeners, although the reduction of these minerals does not provide any health benefits.

OMWD’s potable water is imported from Northern California and the Colorado River. Due to the long distances of travel before this water reaches your tap, evaporative losses increase the hardness of the water. As a result, the water delivered by OMWD is considered to be quite hard. Our hardness values run about 250 PPM (parts per million) which is equivalent to approximately 15 GPG (grains per gallon). If you are setting up a dishwasher, water softener, or other appliance requiring you to indicate the hardness/softness of your water, these are the values you should use.

Salt-based water softeners usually regenerate softeners at night and discharge a brine waste to the sewer during this process. There are many local sewer agencies that prohibit the discharge of these brine wastes into the sewer. Contact your local sewer agency for details. There are companies that provide softening services that regenerate the softening agents off-site. These services involve replacing canisters of softening agents on a regular basis. This sort of softening system is generally in compliance with local sewer regulations and is recommended over the brine system.