Perris, CA (August 2, 2023) — Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) is celebrating National Water Quality Month throughout August by delivering safe and reliable water to its customers while working to protect our groundwater basins for the long-term benefit of our water supplies.

National Water Quality Month was established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 to raise awareness of the importance of clean and safe drinking water. It honors the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, both of which are historical achievements in protecting water quality and public health.

EMWD’s commitment to water quality includes conducting more than 47,000 water quality tests each year to and certify drinking water meets all state and federal drinking water standards. EMWD has invested in proven and industry leading water quality treatment facilities and infrastructure that helps deliver that water to nearly 1 million customers living and working in its service area.

That commitment also extends improving the quality of our groundwater basins to provide long-term improvements to our local source water. Among the many water quality commitments that EMWD has invested in:

• EMWD’s groundwater desalination program not only provides a high-quality drinking water source, but provides long-term benefits to the groundwater basin by removing approximately 60,000 tons of salt from the region each year.
• EMWD has partnered with the Department of Defense for PFAS remediation facilities. PFAS are per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, which are a class of chemicals resistant to heat, water and oil that have been used in consumer products. These chemicals are often found in the environment and pose a public health risk. By removing these substances from the groundwater, EMWD is providing a safe water supply source and cleaning up the groundwater basin.
• The Perris North Groundwater Program is constructing wells and a groundwater treatment facility in Moreno Valley, which will provide long-term water quality improvements to the groundwater basin.
• EMWD’s planned Purified Water Replenishment program will purify recycled water and then use it to replenish the groundwater basin in the San Jacinto Valley. This project will not only improve the quantity of the basin, but the quality through a high-quality replenishment source that will blend with existing groundwater.

To learn more about EMWD’s water quality, check out our latest Consumer Confidence Report. More information about EMWD’s efforts to protect groundwater quality may also be found on EMWD’s website.

“EMWD recognizes that water quality is not just about the product that we deliver to homes and businesses each day, but also about protecting and improving the original source of our water supplies,” EMWD Board President Phil Paule said. “That is why we proudly continue to advance groundwater management programs that will provide us with a more sustainable water supply future.”