TapMatch

Long Beach, California

Long Beach Utilities 2025 Annual Water Quality Report. MWD zone hardness 220 ppm / 12.8 gpg (range 100–300). Blended zone 76 ppm / 4.4 gpg (range 66–100). Chloramines 2.15 ppm highest RAA (range 0.33–2.84). No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up — still check the sewer agency on the bill.

Cited chemistry for Long BeachA chart of numbers printed on the utility report, each labeled with its unit. Missing numbers are left off.Hardness (MWD zone)220 ppm / 12.8 gpg (range 100–300)Hardness (blended zone)76 ppm / 4.4 gpg (range 66–100)Chloramines2.15 ppm highest RAA (range 0.33–2.84)TTHMscitywide 28–48 ppb; highest LRAA 35HAA5citywide 5.0–12.0 ppb; highest LRAA 35WQR
Cited numbers from the utility report. Length follows the printed value against a labeled scale — not a health ranking. If the report has no number, it is not on the chart.
  1. Hardness (MWD zone)220 ppm / 12.8 gpg (range 100–300)
  2. Hardness (blended zone)76 ppm / 4.4 gpg (range 66–100)
  3. Chloramines2.15 ppm highest RAA (range 0.33–2.84)
  4. TTHMscitywide 28–48 ppb; highest LRAA 35
  5. HAA5citywide 5.0–12.0 ppb; highest LRAA 35

Best match for Long Beach

Salt-based water softener — confirm the district first

Check the sanitation district before installing a salt system.

Two tall mineral tanks and a black brine tank of a salt-based water softener, plumbed with copper pipe in a garage.
Salt-based softener: two mineral tanks and a brine tank.

Ask the agency on the sewer side of the bill before you cut a brine drain. California lets districts restrict self-regenerating units. A “banned in California” blog is not your district.

Shop salt-based softeners

Some links are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a commission. That does not change the match, and it is not a medical claim.

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Other options that still fit

  • Salt-free conditioner

    A salt-free conditioner changes how scale sticks. It does not soften. Soap and spots stay closer to untreated. No brine line.

    Shop salt-free conditioners

  • Whole-house catalytic carbon for chloramine

    Catalytic carbon with a chloramine claim (NSF/ANSI 42 for chloramine). Regular chlorine carbon is the wrong box.

    Shop catalytic carbon for chloramine

  • Under-sink reverse osmosis

    The under-sink RO we actually run is Cloud RO — NSF/ANSI 58, kitchen tap, not a whole-house tank. Check the exact listing if PFAS is why you are shopping. Shop Amazon first for under-sink RO, or buy Cloud direct. Waterdrop is a tankless option if you want that path. A certifier-listed pitcher is the cheap first step. Nobody is paying for a medical claim.

    Shop under-sink reverse osmosisBuy Cloud RO directShop Waterdrop reverse osmosisShop PFAS-listed pitchers

  • Test the tap first

    A homeowner kit is a start. It is not a state-certified lab. Use a certified lab when the decision is expensive.

    Shop water test kits

On the report

Water utility
Long Beach Utilities Department
Hardness
MWD zone (114) hardness 220 ppm average (max 300, range 100–300), also 12.8 gpg (range 5.8–17.5). Blended zone (325) 76 ppm average (max 100, range 66–100), also 4.4 gpg (range 3.9–5.8). Two labeled 2025 additional-constituents columns, not a blend we invented. — Long Beach Utilities 2025 Annual Water Quality Report
Disinfectant
Chloramines citywide 2.15 ppm highest RAA (range 0.33–2.84). MRDL 4.0. Narrative says primary disinfection is free chlorine and the distribution residual is chloramine. — Long Beach Utilities 2025 Annual Water Quality Report
Brine / salt to the sewer
Check the sanitation district before installing. Searched Long Beach Utilities rules and City of Long Beach sewer pages for a residential self-regenerating softener or brine-drain ban like LACSD Measure S. None turned up. That is not a statewide ban finding. Long Beach is not Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain.

Also around here

Extra context besides the utility report and the chart above — geology, an unregulated table, or a published study. Not a second set of printed tap numbers.

  • MicroplasticsWHO’s 2019 review examined studies that found microplastic particles in treated tap and bottled water in many places. That is a published-occurrence finding, not a number from this city’s water-quality report, and we do not invent a particles-per-liter count for the tap.Microplastics in drinking-water — World Health Organization
  • PFASThe 2025 report says UCMR5 monitored 29 PFAS and lithium in 2023–2024 and all PFAS were not detected. That is the utility’s labeled statement, not a city tap average we invented.UCMR5 2023–2024: all PFAS not detected. Lithium MWD zone average 22.75 ppb (ND–54). Blended zone average 11.25 ppb (ND–20).2025 Annual Water Quality Report — Long Beach Utilities Department

Long Beach drinking water is a Metropolitan Water District zone and a blended zone delivered by Long Beach Utilities. No Long Beach Utilities residential softener ban like LACSD Measure S turned up. That is not a statewide ban. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain. This is not a legal opinion.

The 2025 additional-constituents table prints hardness as two labeled columns — MWD zone 220 ppm / 12.8 gpg (range 100–300) and blended zone 76 ppm / 4.4 gpg (range 66–100). We do not invent a citywide blend.

Chloramines 2.15 ppm highest RAA (range 0.33–2.84). TTHMs citywide 28–48 ppb, highest locational RAA 35. HAA5 citywide 5.0–12.0 ppb, highest locational RAA 35. Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.

Sources

  1. 2025 Annual Water Quality Report — Long Beach Utilities Department. Accessed 2026-09-09.

Updated September 9, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.