Pasadena, California
Pasadena Water and Power 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2024 data). Hardness prints as two columns — Pasadena system 236 ppm (range 208–270) and MWD/imported 272 ppm (range 241–303). Total chlorine residual 1.4 ppm RAA. No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up — Pasadena is not LACSD Measure S. Check the sewer agency on the bill.
- Hardness (Pasadena)236 ppm (range 208–270)
- Hardness (imported/MWD)272 ppm (range 241–303)
- Total chlorine residual1.4 ppm RAA (range ND–3.0)
- Chromium VI (Pasadena)3.1 ppb (range 1.5–5.2)
Best match for Pasadena
Salt-based water softener — confirm the district first
Check the sanitation district before installing a salt system.
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.
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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.
Whole-house carbon — match chlorine vs chloramine
Open the CCR for chlorine vs chloramine, then match that claim. A 42 chlorine listing is not 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.
On the report
- Water utility
- Pasadena Water and Power
- Hardness
- Two columns. Pasadena Water System total hardness 236 ppm (range 208–270), also 12 to 16 grains on the Pasadena-system narrative. MWD/imported 272 ppm (range 241–303). Do not blend. — Pasadena Water and Power 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2024 data)
- Disinfectant
- Total chlorine residual highest RAA 1.4 ppm (range ND–3.0), MRDL 4.0. The row does not print chlorine versus chloramine. — Pasadena Water and Power 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2024 data)
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- Check the sanitation district before installing. No PWP or City of Pasadena residential self-regenerating ban like LACSD Measure S turned up. Measure S is Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District, not Pasadena. Ask PWP or the agency on the sewer 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
- Chromium VIThe 2025 report prints Chromium VI on the Pasadena column 3.1 ppb (range 1.5–5.2) and ND on imported. Those are labeled columns, not a blend we invented.Pasadena 3.1 ppb (range 1.5–5.2); imported ND.2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2024 data) — Pasadena Water and Power
- PFASEPA’s Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule required community systems this size to test 29 PFAS and lithium in 2023–2025. Open the UCMR 5 Data Finder for this PWS. This file does not invent a detection.Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Pasadena drinking water is the PWP system and imported MWD water. Measure S is Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District, not Pasadena. No PWP residential self-regenerating install ban turned up. Ask PWP or the agency on the sewer bill before you cut a brine drain. This is not a legal opinion.
The 2025 report prints hardness as two columns — Pasadena 236 ppm (range 208–270) and imported/MWD 272 ppm (range 241–303). Total chlorine residual 1.4 ppm RAA. Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Sources
- 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2024 data) — Pasadena Water and Power. Accessed 2026-09-09.
Updated September 9, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.