Water Quality
The City of Burlingame purchases all of its water from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). Our major water source originates from Yosemite National Park snowmelt flowing down the Tuolumne River to storage in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The well protected Sierra water source is exempt from filtration requirements by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water. Water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir receives the following treatments to meet appropriate drinking water standards for consumption: ultraviolet light and chlorine disinfection, pH adjustment for optimal corrosion control, fluoridation for dental health protection, and chloramination for maintaining disinfectant residual and minimizing the formation of regulated disinfection byproducts.
Water Quality Report
Previous Water Quality Reports:
2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
Lead and Copper Rule
Lead and copper enter drinking water primarily through plumbing materials. Exposure to lead and copper may cause health problems ranging from stomach distress to brain damage. In 1991, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a regulation to control lead and copper in drinking water. This regulation is known as the Lead and Copper Rule.
The treatment technique for the rule requires systems to monitor drinking water at customer taps. If lead concentration exceed an action level of 15 parts per billion or copper concentrations exceed an action level of 1.3 parts per million in more than 10% of customer taps sampled, the system must undertake a number of additional actions to control corrosion.
Additional Information:
- Lead and Copper Rule (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
- 2022 Lead and Copper Results (City of Burlingame)
- Lead in Drinking Water Brochure (City of Burlingame)
- Copper in Drinking Water Brochure (City of Burlingame)
Lead Sampling in Burlingame Schools
In January 2018, Assembly Bill 746 went into effect and requires community water systems like the City of Burlingame to collect lead samples in all daycares, preschools, and kindergarten through 12th grade schools on public property to ensure students have access to safe drinking water.
The City of Burlingame has sampled all 10 schools that meet this criteria. Of the 75 samples collected at these 10 schools, zero (0) have been found above the action level for lead.
Additional Information:
- Lead Sampling of Drinking Water in California Schools (State Water Resources Control Board)
- Lead Sampling Results Map (State Water Resources Control Board)
Lead Service Line Inventory Requirement
State law requires public water systems, such as the City of Burlingame, to test for and remediate certain contaminants in drinking water, including lead and copper, and prohibits the use of any pipe, pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture, solder, or flux that is not “lead free” in the installation of repair of any public water system or any plumbing in a facility providing water for human consumption, except as specified.
Under the Lead Service Lines section of the California Health and Safety code, Section 116885, added by Senate Bill 1398 (2016) and amended by Senate Bill 427 (2017), all community water systems must compile an inventory of known partial or total lead user service lines in use in its distribution system by July 1, 2018. The inventory is to include all user service lines that are active and those that are reasonably expected to become active in the future. Also, the bill requires CWS to identify areas that may have lead user service lines in use, and/or identify any areas within the CWS distribution system that includes materials used for the service line that cannot be identified. CWS will further be required to propose a schedule to replace all the known lead user service lines and user service lines constructed of unknown material by July 1, 2020.
Additional Information:
- SFPUC Annual Water Quality & Technology Workshop - "Identification of Lead and Unknown Material Service Lines in the City of Burlingame” (2019)
- Lead Service Line Inventory Requirement (State Water Resources Control Board)
- Service Line Inventory Status Map (State Water Resources Control Board)
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule
The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) amendments require that once every five years EPA issue a new list of no more than 30 unregulated contaminants to be monitored by public water systems (PWSs). The fourth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 4) was published in the Federal Register on December 20, 2016. UCMR 4 requires monitoring for 30 chemical contaminants between 2018 and 2020 using analytical methods developed by EPA and consensus organizations. This monitoring provides a basis for future regulatory actions to protect public health.