Anaheim, California

What is the Water Quality in Anaheim, California?

Compared to other US cities, Anaheim water quality ranks in the high range for contamination excluding Lead.

Most of their 39 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

• Arsenic is at very high levels: 33x health guidelines.
• Haloacetic acids (HAA5) are at extremely high levels: 85x health guidelines.
• Haloacetic acids (HAA9) are at extremely high levels: 222x health guidelines.
  • These are both byproducts of the chlorine treatment process most water supplies go through.
• PFBS is at very high levels: 3.5x health guidelines.
• PFHXS is at very high levels: 9.1x health guidelines.
• PFOA is at extremely high levels: 1,483x health guidelines.
• PFOS is at extremely high levels: 28x health guidelines.
  • These are all considered “forever chemicals” by the EPA and are being studied extensively.

Let’s look closer at what’s in Anaheim water.

What Else is in Anaheim water?

Here are the top 5 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

1. Bromodichloromethane – Potential effect: Cancer
2. Chloroform – Potential effect: Cancer
3. Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
4. Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer
5. Uranium – Potential effect: Cancer

These are five of the 39 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

20 of these contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

Does Anaheim have Lead contamination?

Yes, Anaheim has lead in its water. The most recent Lead samples collected from 2016 through 2018 showed concentrations up to 2.0 parts per billion (ppb).

The legal limit for lead is 15 parts per billion. Being well-below this level is a good thing.

• Concentrations between 3.8 ppb and 15 ppb put a formula-fed baby at risk of elevated blood lead levels. Read more about the symptoms of Lead in water.

There is no safe level of lead for humans.

• The good news is that 99.99% of the lead can be removed.

See the What Can You Do? section below to learn how to filter out contaminants.

Where does Anaheim’s water come from?

Anaheim’s water comes from the Anaheim Bay watershed.

13 of the 15 EPA assessed water sources in the Anaheim Bay watershed are in Impaired or Unknown condition. These include:

• Anaheim Bay
• Bolsa Bay Marsh
• Bolsa Chica Channel, Bolca Chica Ecological Reserve, Bolsa Chica State Beach
• East Garden Grove Wintersburg Channel
• Huntington Harbour

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. These are in Good condition:

• Anaheim Bay Marsh
• Huntington City Beach

Whether a water source is in Impaired or Good condition refers to the quality of these uses:

1. Drinking Water
2. Aquatic Life
3. Fish and Shellfish Consumption
4. Recreation

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

See below for what you can do to improve Anaheim’s water.

What Can You Do?

Information about water quality in Anaheim can be surprising.

But there are things you can do in your home to clean up your water.

To Remove Lead and Other Contaminants In Your Home:

There is one solution that beats Brita, PUR, and expensive whole house systems.

• It costs less per gallon.
• Needs fewer filter changes.
• And it doesn’t make your water taste weird.

• Use Berkey filters with activated carbon to filter out at least 75% of contaminants in your drinking water. (Berkey Light and Travel Berkey are the only types available in California.)
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Anaheim water.
  • Brita can filter 21 contaminants (53%) and Lead depending on the filter.
  • Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
• To filter out 34 of the 39 contaminants (87%), consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.
  • These are more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but can be more effective.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • 1,4-Dioxane
    • Aluminum
    • Arsenic
    • Barium
    • Bromide
    • Bromodichloromethane – health risks in drinking water
    • Bromoform
    • Chloroform – side effects
    • Chromium (total)
    • Fluoride
    • Haloacetic acids – chlorination byproduct*
    • Hexavalent chromium – health effects
    • Molybdenum
    • Nitrate
    • Nitrite
    • PFBS
    • PFHPA
    • PFHxA
    • PFHXS
    • PFNA
    • PFOA
    • PFOS
    • Strontium
    • Total trihalomethanes – byproduct of chlorination*
    • Trichloroacetic acid
    • Trichloroethylene
    • Uranium

*Chlorination is an effective method of disinfecting/treating drinking water. You can then use a water filter to reduce the effects of chlorination byproducts to get the safest, cleanest water possible.

In Your Community:

Contact your local government officials and put pressure on them to invest in cleaner waterways and upgraded city water filtration and treatment.

Go to: http://www.anaheim.net/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other California Cities

California Water Quality Page