Ridge Mutual Water Company, CA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 5.25 ppb (monitoring period 2020-2022). 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.
Ridge Mutual Water Company at a glance
Ridge Mutual Water Company serves about 213 people through 76 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws surface water, in Santa Cruz County, California. EPA system ID: CA4400618; phone on file: 408-353-2759. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is up 5.25 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2019. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ridge Mutual Water Company is 5.25 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.25 ppb |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
Against other California systems
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. Ridge Mutual Water Company's 5.25 ppb sits at the 92nd percentile in California and the 92nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
51 other systems share Santa Cruz County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Ridge Mutual Water Company. 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 |
Next steps for Los Gatos, CA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Los Gatos, 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 Ridge Mutual Water Company 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.