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NOTICE: Under the City Council’s Zero Tolerance Policy, the City will not blend any detectable levels of perchlorate into its water system and your water is safe. To learn more about the City Council’s Zero Tolerance Policy, click here. |
The City's Water System
The City of Rialto's Water Department provides potable water to 11,897 domestic, commercial, institutional and irrigation customers providing water to almost 50,000 people. The City's service area encompasses approximately 8.5 square miles in the central portion of the City. The remainder of the City's population, north of Baseline and south of the I-10 Freeway, is served water either by West Valley Water District or Fontana Water Company.
Click here to view a map showing service area of Rialto, West Valley Water District, Fontana Water Company, and Marygold Mutual Water Company.
Residential water use in the City's service area is 103 gallons per person per day, which translates into a total average daily demand of 6.3 million gallons. Commercial, industrial and agricultural users consume an additional 4.08 million gallons per day (mgd). The City is obligated by contract to deliver to Marygold Mutual Water Company a maximum of 1,500 gallons per minute (gpm). That water is served in the unincorporated community of Bloomington. Click here to see a map showing service area of Rialto, West Valley Water District, Fontana Water Company, and Marygold Mutual Water Company.
When Rialto first detected perchlorate in its wells, it stopped pumping from those wells. It has since installed wellhead treatment to remove perchlorate on its Chino Basin well (Chino #1), and its North Riverside Basin well (Chino #2). The wellhead treatment system has been approved by the California Department of Health Services, which is the regulator of the City's water supply system. The well head system uses ion exchange technology to remove perchlorate from water down to levels where perchlorate cannot be detected even using very sensitive, state-approved laboratory techniques.
In 2003, the Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a Cleanup and Abatement Order (also called a "CAO") to the County of San Bernardino, requiring the County to clean up the perchlorate that soaked into the groundwater from the County's Mid-Valley Sanitary Landfill. In 2004, the Regional Board revised the CAO it issued to the County, to require the County to provide Rialto with a replacement water supply because of the need to shut down Rialto Well # 3 due to perchlorate contamination. You can read the Cleanup and Abatement Order at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/santaana/pdf/03-13.pdf. You can read the Replacement Water Order at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/santaana/pdf/04-72.pdf.