Monterey Bay Academy, CA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.4 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
About Monterey Bay Academy
Monterey Bay Academy serves about 400 people through 61 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Santa Cruz County, California. EPA system ID: CA4400755; phone on file: 831-728-1481. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Monterey Bay Academy's lead record
That is up 1.4 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2024. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Monterey Bay Academy is 1.4 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
Where this result ranks
Of the 2,884 California systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 30 are over 15 ppb right now and 215 have gone over at some point. Monterey Bay Academy's 1.4 ppb sits at the 74th percentile in California and the 62nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
51 other systems share Santa Cruz County; 19 of them have a higher latest lead result than Monterey Bay Academy. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz Water Department | 94,626 | 0 (not detected) |
| Watsonville, City Of | 65,231 | 1.2 ppb |
| Soquel Creek Water District | 40,962 | 2 ppb |
| San Lorenzo Valley Water Dist | 21,513 | 2.7 ppb |
| Scotts Valley Water District | 11,197 | 0.69 ppb |
| Slvwd - Felton Water System | 4,491 | 0.95 ppb |
| Central Water District | 2,726 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mission Springs Conference Center | 1,310 | 2.4 ppb |
| Mt. Hermon Association, Inc. | 1,176 | 0 (not detected) |
| Big Basin Water Company | 1,120 | 12 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; La Selva Beach, CA may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Monterey Bay Academy whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.