Padre Dam Mwd, CA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.1 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.
Who runs the water here
Padre Dam Mwd serves about 93,980 people through 23,443 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in San Diego County, California. EPA system ID: CA3710037; phone on file: 619-258-4673. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2022 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Padre Dam Mwd is 2 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2022 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
How Padre Dam Mwd compares
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. Padre Dam Mwd's 1.1 ppb sits at the 72nd percentile in California and the 58th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in San Diego County
80 other systems share San Diego County; 19 of them have a higher latest lead result than Padre Dam Mwd. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| San Diego, City Of | 1,408,937 | 0 (not detected) |
| Helix Water District | 277,918 | 0 (not detected) |
| Otay Water District | 242,155 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sweetwater Authority | 184,915 | 0 (not detected) |
| Oceanside, City Of | 174,340 | 0 (not detected) |
| Escondido, City Of | 137,044 | 1.1 ppb |
| Vista Irrigation District | 134,501 | 0 (not detected) |
| Vallecitos Wd | 114,700 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cal-Am Water Coronado | 106,000 | 2 ppb |
| Carlsbad Mwd | 96,371 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Santee, CA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Santee, 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 Padre Dam Mwd 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.