By Jorge Casuso
October 10, 2025 -- Santa Monica's drinking water met or exceeded federal and state standards last year and remained safe during the devastating Palisades fire, according to a report the City Council will take up Tuesday.
The 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for the 2024 calendar year noted that the City is continuing to deliver "safe, high quality, and sustainably sourced drinking water to the community."
According to the report, the Water Resources Division conducts more than 8,000 laboratory tests each year that look for 100 substances in the City's drinking water.
These include "microorganisms, pesticides, herbicides, asbestos, lead, copper, petroleum-based products, and by-products of industrial and water treatment processes," the report said.
The water continued to meet and exceed the standards established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water (DDW).
Water resources faced "severe challenges" earlier this year "due to devastating wildfires that approached the borders of our City, said Sunny Wang, the City's Water Resources Manager.
"Our team responded by providing critical support and resources to neighboring communities, all while maintaining the integrity and safety of our own water system," Wang wrote in the report.
The Division worked "tirelessly" throughout the emergency, "to manage our water storage reservoirs" and "leverage our diverse water supply sources to maintain peak water production capacity.
The Division also increased water quality testing efforts "to ensure uninterrupted access to clean, reliable drinking water for Santa Monica residents," Wang said.
The City currently obtains up to 75 percent of its water from local groundwater wells within the City and in West Los Angeles.
The City recently retrofitted the Arcadia Water Treatment Plant "to enhance overall production efficiency and aid in sustainable groundwater management," according to the report.
The plant treats the water from the Charnock Well Field in West Los Angeles, which has supplied water to Santa Monica for more than 100 years. On its way to the treatment plant, the water blends with water from the Olympic and Arcadia Sub-basin wells.
"Once the water arrives at the Arcadia Treatment Plant, it undergoes a treatment process that includes Iron/Manganese removal, filtration, Reverse Osmosis (RO) softening, disinfection, and fluoridation," according to the report.
The remaining 25 percent of Santa Monica’s drinking water is purchased from Metropolitan Water District (MWD). The water undergoes extensive treatment before it is blended with the locally produced water and distributed to residents.
MWD imports water from two separate sources -- the Colorado River and the State Water Project, according to the report.
The Colorado River water -- which originates as snowmelt from mountainous regions in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado -- "is delivered from Lake Havasu through a 242-mile-long aqueduct."
The water from the State Water Project originates in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and is delivered through the 441-mile-long California Aqueduct.
MWD water is filtered at their treatment plants and undergoes extensive treatment before entering Santa Monica’s water system.
To enhance water use efficiency, the City recently completed its Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project that provides customers with real time information about their water use, billing, and leak detection (for details click here).
"Continued success in water use efficiency and water conservation relies on active community participation in rebate programs, adhering to outdoor water use restrictions, and mindful water use in our everyday lives," Wang said.