Rainbow Municipal Wd, CA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.7 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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
Rainbow Municipal Wd serves about 23,536 people through 9,158 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: CA3710016; phone on file: 760-728-1178. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
That is up 2.7 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Rainbow Municipal Wd is 2.7 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2.7 ppb |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 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. Rainbow Municipal Wd's 2.7 ppb sits at the 83rd percentile in California and the 79th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
80 other systems share San Diego County; 9 of them have a higher latest lead result than Rainbow Municipal Wd. 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) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Fallbrook, 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 Rainbow Municipal Wd 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.