Tap water in Cambria meets state standards | San Luis Obispo Tribune

The water Cambrians get from the tap meets all state water-safety standards, according to representatives of the Cambria Community Services District and a supervisor of the regional Division of Drinking Water.

The district’s 17-page consumer confidence report issued May 2014 includes test results on contaminant levels tracked by the state. Jeff Densmore of the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board staff said in a phone interview Tuesday, Jan. 12, that the report shows those levels are “below action level and within our standards … where we want them to be.”

The issue arose in a recent letter to the editor by previous CCSD board member (and RWQCB scientist) Lou Blanck, in which he stated that the consumer confidence report showed levels of lead and haxavelent chromium (chrome VI) that were health hazards.

District General Manager Jerry Gruber also disputed Blanck’s assertions in a letter to The Cambrian and members of the public (see Page 8). He said the report includes two out of 26 lead-level samples, taken at Cambria homes in 2013 and 2014, that showed “levels above the regulatory ‘action level’ of 15 ppb. But this lead does not come from CCSD’s wells or delivery system. It comes from corrosion in household plumbing, especially in older plumbing systems that predate the use of lead-free solder.”

Gruber directed concerned parties to the Consumer Confidence Report on the CCSD website, www.cambriacsd.org.