Soquel Creek Water District, CA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 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.
Soquel Creek Water District at a glance
Soquel Creek Water District serves about 40,962 people through 14,574 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 Santa Cruz County, California. EPA system ID: CA4410017; phone on file: 831-475-8500. 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 (2.5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Soquel Creek Water District is 3 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 2.5 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.8 ppb |
| 2016 | 3 ppb |
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. Soquel Creek Water District's 2 ppb sits at the 79th percentile in California and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
51 other systems share Santa Cruz County; 16 of them have a higher latest lead result than Soquel Creek Water District. 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 |
| 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 |
| Forest Lakes Mwc | 1,067 | 3.3 ppb |
Next steps for Soquel, CA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Soquel, 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 Soquel Creek Water District 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.