Drinking Water
State Small Water System Program
A State Small Water System (SSWS) is a non-Public Water System that supplies drinking water that meets the following conditions:
- serves at least five, but not more than 14, service connections and
- does not regularly drinking water to more than an average of 25 individuals daily for more than 60 days out of the year.
Environmental Health provides the following services for a SSWS:
- issues operational permits
- performs routine water system inspections
- evaluates water quality data
- reviews annual notices to consumers served
- performs plan check and material specification review for changes to system infrastructure
Links to the state laws and regulations which govern the operation, maintenance, and monitoring of these systems are found in the links below.
Public Water Systems
A Public Water System is defined as a system that provides water to 15 or more service connections, or serving 25 or more people daily for 60 days or more out of the year. Systems that meet this definition fall under the regulatory jurisdiction of the State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, San Bernardino District 13. They can be reached at:
- Office: 464 West 4th Street, Suite 437, San Bernardino, CA 92401
- Phone: (909) 383-4328
- Email: dwpdist13@waterboards.ca.gov.
Inyo County is home to a variety of water systems, from publicly-regulated entities to individual domestic wells. If you are unsure of where your drinking water comes from, we are here to help you find out.
For assistance, please contact Sarah Petersen of our staff. Be sure to have your address or Assessor's Parcel Number (APN) ready.
If your drinking water comes from a public water system, information about your system can be found online by clicking on the link below for the California Drinking Water Watch. Information available includes:
- Most recent water quality results
- Water quality monitoring schedules
- General water system and regulator contact information
- Violation and enforcement actions
If your water supply comes from a State Small Water System, the most recent data may be available by request from this office.
If you are looking to have your drinking water tested, there are a few things to consider. For connections served by a public water system, the most recent water quality data is available for free online through the California Drinking Water Watch.
If you are considering testing your water, it is important to take into account the information you're hoping to gain when thinking about what to test for. The different types of analyses include, but are not limited to:
- Bacteriological analyses
- Inorganic analyses
- Synthetic, Volatile, and Semi-Volatile Organic Chemical analyses
- General Mineral analyses
- Radioactivity
Some labs offer analysis packages that test for and report on multiple constituents. It is important to check with each lab individually on the analysis packages offered, services and materials included, and pricing. While there are two local labs that can conduct bacteriological analysis, there are no labs in Inyo or neighboring Mono counties that can perform more advanced chemical analyses. With this in mind, some analyses require the sample to arrive at the lab within a certain amount of time and/or at a certain temperature. This means that some samples may require overnight shipping with the added weight of ice packs.
To view a consolidated map of all certified labs, click the link below for the CA ELAP Certified Laboratories Map.