San Diego County, California: drinking water report. San Diego County imports roughly 85% of its drinking water from the Colorado River and Northern…
San Diego County imports roughly 85% of its drinking water from the Colorado River and Northern California, supplemented by the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and a growing recycled water program. The county's 3.3 million residents are served by over 20 water agencies, each with distinct source blends and treatment approaches. The Pure Water San Diego program aims to produce 83 million gallons per day of purified recycled water by 2035, but today most taps still deliver conventionally treated imported water.
San Diego County hosts multiple Navy and Marine Corps installations – Naval Base San Diego, MCAS Miramar, and NAS North Island among them – all of which have documented histories of AFFF firefighting foam use. The Department of the Navy has confirmed PFAS contamination at several of these sites. The EPA's UCMR5 data shows detections across county water systems, though systems receiving desalinated water from Carlsbad (which uses reverse osmosis) tend to test significantly cleaner for PFAS.
California's notification levels of 5.1 ppt for PFOA and 6.5 ppt for PFOS are among the strictest in the nation. According to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, 14 public water systems in the county reported PFAS detections above notification thresholds during 2024 monitoring.
Which water agency serves your home matters enormously. Coastal communities may receive more desalinated water in their blend, while inland areas rely more heavily on imported Colorado River water with conventional treatment.
Check your water to see data specific to your ZIP code and provider. If PFAS levels are elevated, a reverse osmosis system under the sink handles the broadest range of contaminants. Our water filter guide breaks down which certifications actually mean something versus marketing noise. For historical data and trends, pull your detailed report. See our California page for statewide context.