Hollister, California

Hollister’s rule on this file is a Sunnyslope County Water District sewer ordinance, not a statewide salt-softener ban. Ordinance No. 79, District Water Code, adopted February 17, 2015. SSCWD potable water serves the eastern half of the Hollister urban area, including Ridgemark and some urban San Benito County — about 7,800 connections in the 2024 report. SSCWD also supplies treated surface water to the City of Hollister Water Utility, which keeps its own distribution. City of Hollister sewer is a different agency. We did not open a primary City of Hollister municipal-code softener section tonight; secondary news says the city also adopted a ban in 2014 — confirm that with City Public Works. Ask SSCWD or the agency printed on the water and sewer bill about the address.

Title 1 § 1.05.010: “Self-Regenerating Water Softening Appliances (SRWS)” means an ion-exchange device that removes calcium and magnesium using sodium chloride; the resin is recharged with sodium chloride brine subsequently discharged into the District’s or the City’s sewer system. Units may recharge on a timer or a sensor.

§ 4.25.110: except as authorized under the chapter, no person shall allow, permit or cause any water conditioning or softening device of any type to discharge its waste or waste products into the District’s sewage system. (A) It is unlawful to install or cause to be installed an SRWS in any structure, whether fully constructed or not, in the District’s jurisdiction; replacement of an existing SRWS is included. (B) All existing SRWS in non-residential structures shall be removed within 120 days of the chapter’s effective date. (C) The District may inspect for compliance. If the building is occupied, staff present credentials and request entry; if entry is refused, the District may use every legal remedy to secure it. Inspections are discretionary; the District is not liable for an inadequate inspection or a failure to inspect.

§ 4.25.120 exceptions: (A) the chapter does not apply to softeners recharged by portable cartridges supplied by service providers where the brine is not discharged into the District’s or the City’s sewer system. (B) The General Manager may permit an individual SRWS if a physician verifies a medical need for soft water in writing and financial hardship precludes canister softener service; that permission may be rescinded with 60 days’ written notice if the District is in violation of State sodium, chloride, or TDS limits. Appeals go to the Board under Chapter 1.25. We do not invent another exception, and we do not make a medical claim about tap water.

Drinking water on this file is Sunnyslope County Water District. The 2024 Annual Water Quality Report does not print a PWS ID on the pages we opened, so this file does not invent one. 2024 blend narrative: 83 percent imported surface water and 17 percent groundwater. Lessalt and West Hills treat imported Central Valley Project surface water; five wells supply the groundwater. The tables print two labeled hardness columns — groundwater 420 mg/L as CaCO3 (range 402–432) and surface water 120 mg/L (range 110–130). We do not invent a citywide blend.

Same 2024 tables: chlorine residual 1.75 mg/L across all sites (range 0.73–2.16), MRDL 4. Trihalomethanes 31 µg/L (range 7.4–40), MCL 80. Haloacetic acids 7 µg/L (range 2.1–15), MCL 60. Customer-tap copper 90th percentile 0.082 mg/L (40 sites / 0 above AL 1.3). Customer-tap lead 90th percentile 2 µg/L (40 sites sampled), AL 15; the Hollister-area narrative says those lead and copper results have been below the notification level. The Chromium VI groundwater row is on the table (surface column NA); the extracted average and range did not agree, so this file keeps the October 2024 MCL of 10 µg/L and the note that a system of this size is not in violation until after October 1, 2027. The 2024 tables we opened do not print a PFAS detection row. This file does not invent one. Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.