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Serving The Central Coast Of California Since 1947 |
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For over 55 years we have gained some experience in knowing what to expect in the local water supplies around the Central Coast. Listed below are most of the water supplies for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.
| You can trust the water experts with over 55 years of experience, your local Culligan man. | Under each water supply you will find a brief description of what type of contaminates you might expect to find in your water. These are given as a general guideline only. |
Please click on the city or community closest to where you live.
| Paso Robles | Atascadero | Templeton | Santa Margarita |
| San Luis Obispo | Five Cities | Nipomo | Cuyama Valley |
| Santa Maria | Orcutt | Guadalupe | Los Alamos |
| Casmalia | Santa Barbara | Carpinteria | Goleta |
If you know that you have well water, please click here.
For some helpful definitions, please see our glossary of terms
Paso Robles city water tends to have 20+ grains of hardness which means that it is considered very hard by industry standards. Like most municipalities the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the water due to residual chlorine. Small municipality water tends towards the same quality as Paso Robles city water. Areas around Paso Robles on well water vary in quality.
The areas around Lake Nacimiento and San Antonio tend to have better quality water than that in Paso Robles. Particularly in Heritage Ranch the hardness may be significantly lower and would be qualified as hard by industry standards.
Templeton city water tends to have 20+ grains of
hardness which means that
it is considered very hard by industry standards. Like most municipalities
the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the water due
to residual chlorine. Small municipality water tends towards
the same quality as Templeton city water. Areas around Templeton on
well water vary in quality. Atascadero city water tends to have 20+ grains of
hardness which means that
it is considered very hard by industry standards. Like most municipalities
the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the water due
to residual chlorine. Small municipality water tends towards
the same quality as Atascadero city water. Areas around Atascadero on
well water vary in quality. Santa Margarita municipal water is very hard at 25-30 grains of
hardness
and tds of 500ppm. Like most municipalities
the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the water due
to residual chlorine. Areas around Santa Margarita on well water
will vary in quality. San Luis Obispo municipal water tends toward 10-18 grains of
hardness,
qualified as hard by industry standards. The
tds
of the water should vary
between 200 and 400. Like most municipalities
the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the water due
to residual chlorine. Water in the country club areas is handled as a private system and
tends to be very hard, 25-30 grains of hardness with 600-800 tds. Areas around San Luis
Obispo on well water will vary in quality. The Five Citites are all handled by the same water utility
and mixes state water with well water. The result is water with
hardness of 15-24 grains.
Like most municipalities
the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the water due
to residual chlorine. Areas around the five cities on small municipal systems, such as
Varian Ranch, have water
that conforms to state standards for municipalites, but don't necessarily mix with state
water, as a result the water tends to a slightly higher 20-30 grains of hardness.
Outlying regions on well water will vary in quality. Nipomo water ranges between 12-22 grains of
hardness
and has a variance of 400-800 in tds.
This would be classified as very
hard water. Like most municipalities
the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the water due
to residual chlorine. Areas around Nipomo on well water
will vary in quality. Cuyama Valley municipal water fluctuates between 20 and 30 grains
of hardness. Like most municipal water utilities chlorine is used as anti-bacterial
agent which may result in the taste of residual chlorine being present in the water.
Well water is the vicinity of Cuyama Valley will vary
in quality. Santa Maria has state water which is qualified as hard
at 7-10 grains of hardness.
This should not however, be confused with soft water, which
state water is not. Periodic flushings with well water do cause momentary (approx 1 week)
increases in hardness to 25-32 grains of hardness. Regions between Santa Maria and Orcutt
or along the border may or may not have state water; those with state water can expect
7-10 grains of hardness while those without will have a large variance of 16-44 grains.
Outskirts of Santa Maria with well water will vary in
quality.
Tanglewood, between Orcutt and Santa Maria does have state water
and will evidence water of 7-10 grains of hardness. Orcutt is not on state water and its municipal water varies widely
from hard at 14 grains to as high as 44 grains, which is considered very hard.
Like most municipalities
the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the
water due
to residual chlorine. While most of Orcitt is not state water, some regions may be and
would therefore have water
that ranges from 7-10 grains of hardness. Well water used
in the Orcutt area will vary in quality. Guadalupe, like Santa Maria uses unmixed state water, resulting
in water with 7-10 grains of hardness.
Like Santa Maria, periodic flushing occurs using well
water which causes short-lived (approx 1 week) increases in hardness to 25-32 grains.
Well water in the vicinity of Guadalupe varies in quality. Los Alamos municipal water tends toward water with 15-25 grains
of hardness. Like most municipalities
the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the water due
to residual chlorine. Areas around Los Alamos with well water
will vary in quality. Casmalia city water exhibits the same qualities as Orcutt water.
While being a municipal water source, it does show greater variance 16-44 grains of
hardness.
Like most municipalities
the water is chlorinated as an anti-bacterial measure and there may be a taste in the water due
to residual chlorine. Areas around Casmalia on well water will vary in
quality. Well water throughout San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties varies
immensely from well to well, by and large regardless of location.
In addition, wells may have specific water quality problems such as excessive
sulfur or iron. The only way to get a clear picture of the water quality from
a specific well is to get it tested. We can arrange to have a representative
stop by or you can simply bring in a sample in a labelled container.
The container should hold at least half a glass of water, preferably in a
glass or jar and labelled with your name, address, and phone number, as well as
the source of the sample (ie r.o. water, tap water, etc.). For samples taken
directly from a well we do prefer to send a representative so that on-site
observation can be done to accompany the water sample.