Water System Failures and Solutions

This information is most important for domestic well owners and state small water systems to know about. These are systems that serve less than 15 connections or homes.

System Failures

Generally, a water system has “failed” if the water it supplies has more contaminants in it than is safe for health.1 More information about contaminants: Maximum Contaminant Levels.

A water system might “fail” for other reasons as well, like if the well has technical issues or if the groundwater supply is insufficient to meet water users’ needs:

  • Well technical issues can include electrical issues with the pump or wires. 

  • For low groundwater levels, imagine that there are agricultural wells near a domestic well. Agricultural wells are bigger and deeper than domestic wells and may cause groundwater levels in that area to decrease over time. This means that eventually, the domestic well may not be deep enough to access groundwater for all its customers in the system anymore. More about groundwater issues: (English / Español).

There are short-term, or interim, solutions for drinking water problems. These include getting bottled water, hauled water, or tanked water if the supply is low or highly contaminated, or installing filters or treatment devices to treat specific contaminants. Ultimately, it is really important to understand why a water system is failing because that will determine what long-term solutions are best for the system.

Short-Term or Interim Solutions

You need a safe and affordable alternative water supply if your:

  • water has contaminants that cannot immediately be treated,

  • well has gone dry,

  • well is contaminated with seawater, or

  • water supply is otherwise unsafe.

The following are typically short-term or interim solutions, used until a sustainable, long-term solution is identified and implemented.

  • Bottled water is what it sounds like: using water bottles as the main source of water for drinking and cooking. Bottled water is an alternative water source regardless of what the drinking water problem is, like a dry well or contaminated water source. Find organizations that provide bottled water here: Drinking Water Assistance for Households

  • For hauled or tanked water, a vehicle carrying a tank full of clean drinking water drives to the community so residents can fill up water jugs. Hauled or tanked water is an alternative water source regardless of what the drinking water problem is, like a dry well or contaminated water source. Find organizations that provide hauled/tanked water here: Drinking Water Assistance for Households.

  • Users of contaminated wells can also rely on household water treatment devices called Point-of-Use (POU) or Point-of-Entry (POE) devices to filter or treat contaminated water. POU/POE devices only filter out specific contaminants so it is important to understand what your drinking water is contaminated with and what device you need. For more information, visit Residential Water Treatment Devices or call the State Water Board’s Residential Water Treatment Devices Program at (916) 323-0372.

    A POU device is a filter that attaches to a water tap used for drinking and cooking, like a kitchen sink faucet.2 A POE device is typically installed outside the house to treat all water coming into the home. Unfortunately, POU/POE devices require regular filter changes and professional maintenance, which can create new financial and technical burdens on residents and require residents to learn how to maintain these devices. This is why POU/POE devices are ideally an interim solution, but in communities where a long-term solution is not feasible, POU/POE devices may become the long-term solution.

Sustainable, Long-Term Solutions

The following solutions can safeguard a community’s health and safety in the long-term. While solutions like bottled water are helpful for emergencies, they are an inconvenient and unsustainable burden for families to rely on in the long-term.

Unfortunately, many communities with unsafe water are forced to rely on these alternative water supplies for several months or years while long-term solutions are identified, funded, and implemented. Knowing what options are available to you and your community can make that process move faster.

  • A domestic well can be compromised by natural wear and tear over the 25 – 35 years of their lifetime, contamination from chemicals, contamination from seawater under the surface moving inland, or a lack of accessible groundwater as water tables lower.3 Visuals for how wells are compromised: (English / Español).

    In any of these situations, the well likely needs to be repaired or replaced. A professional must first assess whether a repair or replacement is the best solution, but either option is often costly. Find organizations that support with well assessments and funding repair/replacement on the State Water Board website: Drinking Water Assistance for Households.

  • A consolidation is when two or more water systems join together, usually a larger water system taking over a smaller, failing system and providing water to the smaller system’s customers. The larger water system is called the “receiving” system and the failing system is called the “subsumed” system.

    The systems must be geographically close to one another so that the receiving system can set up physical infrastructure more easily, like installing a water pipeline to connect the two systems. This is called a physical consolidation. If the receiving system also takes over billing and other administrative processes for the subsumed system, this is a managerial consolidation as well.

    Note that the State Water Resources Control Board uses the terms “consolidation” and “service extension” interchangeably. More about consolidations: (English / Español).

  • Regionalization is the consolidation of multiple water systems, not just one receiving and one subsumed system. As such, it is a larger scale process and takes a longer time to achieve. Learn more on the State Water Resources Control Board site here: Regionalization Approach.

  • “Extraterritorial” means “outside of a territory.” An extraterritorial service agreement is where residents of a failing system become direct customers of a reliable water system.4 The failing system is outside of the legal territory of the reliable system, which is why it is called “extraterritorial.”

    Legal boundaries are not changed and the failing system’s water users’ community remains outside the legal jurisdiction of the reliable water system. This means that though water users in the community get access to safe and reliable water, they cannot vote or run for seats on the board of directors for the reliable water system.

  • The most complete form of consolidated governance is annexation. In this situation, the legal boundaries of the receiving water system are modified to include the subsumed or annexed community. In an annexation, the members of the annexed community become direct customers of the consolidated water system, and acquire all the same rights as existing customers, including the ability to vote or run for seats on the board of directors. More about annexations: (English / Español).

Fund Your Drinking Water Solutions

Most of the organizations mentioned in the solutions above either provide financial assistance themselves or connect water systems and their customers with outside funding resources. 

The State Water Board may have additional funding programs to support short-term and long-term drinking water solutions: Financial Assistance Funding - Grants and Loans. 

General California grants for water-related issues and projects may also be available. 

This Page Last Updated: July 17, 2024