Public Works Agency
www.santa-ana.org/pw
Item # 23
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
November 4, 2025
TOPIC: Public Works Water Quality Report and Public Health Goals
AGENDA TITLE
Public Hearing – Approve the Report on Water Quality Relative to the Public Health Goals for Public Distribution
Legal notice published in the OC Reporter on October 24, 2025.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Approve the City of Santa Ana 2025 Public Health Goals Report for Public Distribution.
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: No
DISCUSSION
The Public Works Agency Water Resources Division (PWA) operates and maintains the City’s water and sanitary sewer systems. The water system is comprised of approximately 480 miles of water main, 21 groundwater wells, seven pump stations, 10 reservoirs with a storage capacity of 49 million gallons, four pressure regulating stations, and seven connection points to Metropolitan Water District. The system has an average daily demand of 30 million gallons from its roughly 45,500 metered service connections.
Background
Public water systems are highly regulated to ensure the safety and reliability of drinking water. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) establishes Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for various substances to protect public health.
All public water systems, including the City of Santa Ana’s, must comply with these stringent federal standards.
In addition, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) establishes Public Health Goals (PHGs) for contaminants in drinking water. PHGs represent aspirational targets, set at concentrations far lower than MCLs, that public water systems are encouraged, but not required, to meet. Achieving PHGs may be technically feasible; however, doing so is often impractical due to the high cost and limited public health benefits relative to existing standards.
Report on Water Quality Relative to the Public Health Goals November 4, 2025
5 4
0 9
Public Health Goal Report
Pursuant to the California Health and Safety Code Section 116470, the City must prepare a report every three years identifying instances where detected contaminants in drinking water exceed PHGs (Exhibit 1). The report is then forwarded to the State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water (DDW) for use in revising or developing an MCL in drinking water. For calendar years 2022 through 2024, the City’s drinking water exceeded PHGs for naturally occurring elements, such as arsenic, radium, uranium, hexavalent chromium, gross alpha particle activity, and gross beta particle activity, as well as for bromate, perchlorate, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
Importantly, the City’s drinking water continues to meet or exceed all federal and state drinking water standards established by the USEPA, DDW. These standards are designed to ensure water safety and protect public health.
The report also provides cost estimates for implementing the best available treatment technologies to reduce these contaminants further, such as ion exchange and reverse osmosis. The estimated annual cost to achieve PHG levels ranges from $14.1 million to $99.5 million, which would impose an extraordinary financial burden on the community.
Given the substantial costs and the fact that the City’s water meets all mandatory health and safety standards, no additional treatment programs are proposed at this time.
In accordance with state law, the City is required to hold a public hearing to receive and respond to comments on the PHG report prior to making available for public distribution.
This hearing fulfills that statutory requirement. Once approved, Staff will submit a copy to DDW and publish the report on the City’s website.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
There is no environmental impact associated with the action.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with the action.
EXHIBIT(S)
1. City of Santa Ana Report on Water Quality Relative to Public Health Goals Submitted By: Rodolfo Rosas, P.E., Acting Executive Director – Public Works Agency Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager