Lead in Indio, California Drinking Water: What to Know

Lead is not present in Indio’s source water, and the city does not add it. Where lead turns up in tap water, it enters somewhere between the water main and the faucet — from service lines, solder, brass fittings and fixtures inside individual buildings — which makes it a house-by-house question rather than a citywide one.

Where lead does appear, aging infrastructure is usually the reason. Some older homes and buildings still have lead solder, galvanized pipe or brass fixtures that can leach lead into the water.

One of the major challenges in addressing the lead issue in Indio is the lack of awareness and testing. Many residents may be unaware of the potential risks associated with lead-contaminated water. Indio residents can receive free water testing from Culligan! Schedule your free water test today!

Because the risk depends on what your own pipes and fixtures are made of, a citywide result cannot tell you what is coming out of your tap. Testing your own water is the only way to know where your household actually stands.

Treated water can still pick up lead on its way to the tap if the service line, solder or fixtures in the building contain it, which is why the test that matters is the one taken at your own faucet.

Because lead comes from the building’s own plumbing, a tap test is the only way to know your own level. That matters most for residents of Indio and Palm Springs in older homes especially, where lead solder and brass fittings were common.

Utilities are required to sample for lead at a set number of household taps and report the results each year. Those results are worth reading, and also worth understanding precisely: the 15 parts per billion figure most often quoted is an action level that triggers utility-side corrosion control, not a health-based safety line. The federal maximum contaminant level goal for lead is zero, and because lead comes from each building’s own plumbing, a sample of homes describes the system rather than your house.

1. Is there lead in Indio’s drinking water?
Lead is not in Indio’s source water and the city does not add it. Where lead turns up at a tap, it has come from that building’s own service line, solder, brass fittings or fixtures, which makes it a house-by-house question.

2. How is lead in drinking water regulated?
The federal Lead and Copper Rule sets an action level of 15 parts per billion. If more than 10% of sampled taps in a system exceed that level, the system must take corrective action and notify its customers. The federal maximum contaminant level goal for lead is zero, and California’s public health goal is 0.2 parts per billion.

3. How can I test my home for lead in the Coachella Valley?
Contact your local Coachella Valley Culligan water experts! They will arrive at your home at a time of your convenience to give your water a FREE test for lead and other contaminants. Schedule a free water test today!

4. What can I do about lead in my tap water?
Have your water tested at the tap. If lead is present, the options are replacing the lead-bearing plumbing and using a filter certified under NSF/ANSI 53 for lead reduction. Your local Culligan experts can recommend which system fits what the test finds.

5. What is the city of Indio doing to address lead contamination?
The city of Indio is committed to addressing lead contamination. They conduct regular testing of public water sources and implement measures to reduce lead levels if detected. Additionally, they provide resources and information to residents on lead-safe practices and offer assistance programs for lead paint removal in older homes.

Lead is worth taking seriously precisely because it gives no warning. It has no taste, no color and no smell, and the source is the plumbing inside the building rather than anything the utility delivers. That combination means one home can be fine and the house next door not, regardless of what the citywide numbers say, and testing is the only way to tell the difference.

In the U.S., 14-20% of lead exposure is attributed to drinking water. Municipalities have taken action over the past 30 years to ban lead solder, reduce corrosivity and remove lead from brass faucets and water meters, and these measures have significantly helped exposure issues.

Lead lends itself very easily to building pipes – like those used for transporting water. It’s malleable, relatively cheap to use and, as a result, its use in plumbing dates back to early Roman cities. Lead piping was also the standard in the United States until the 1920s and 30s, when concerns about lead poisoning became better understood.

The most common way lead can enter a drinking water system is through corrosive aging pipes and plumbing infrastructure. Many homes, and sometimes entire communities, have plumbing infrastructure that has not been updated for decades, and sometimes more than a century.

These homes are at high risk for lead contamination, even if the water coming through it has been properly treated.

When pipes, fitting or solder have become corroded, water can become contaminated.

The best way to avoid a lead problem is to never have one. Despite the ongoing issues in many cities throughout America, many homeowners are simply not keen on getting a simple water test.

A test can determine whether your household has lead in its tap water, and whether that exposure can be reduced in the interim by flushing the tap for a specified amount of time. Knowing this can be the difference between your family being exposed to lead in tap water and avoiding it altogether.

However, that doesn’t mean every tap in your home is unaffected. Even treated water can pick up lead on its way to the faucet if your pipes or fixtures contain it.