Tubac, Arizona
EPCOR 2025 Water Quality Report — Tubac (PWS AZ0412001) serves about 750 connections south of Tucson from three Upper Santa Cruz Valley wells. Hardness 17 grains per gallon (2023 unregulated table). Chlorine residual 0.86 ppm highest running annual average (range 0.41–1.40) in the 2025 distribution table. Arsenic 9.5 ppb highest (range 4.0–9.5; MCL 10). No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.
Arizona · Salt-softener legality
- Hardness17 gpg
- Chlorine0.86 ppm (range 0.41–1.40)
- Arsenic9.5 ppb (range 4.0–9.5)
- Fluoride1.6 ppm
- Nitrate1.0 ppm (range 0.32–1.0)
What to do in Tubac
Salt-based water softener
No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up.
A salt-based softener is the thing that actually removes hardness. Size it from your grains and how much water you use, not bathroom count. It needs a drain.
Hard water. A salt softener is the box that actually removes it.
Amazon lists shipping and returns on that product page. We do not warehouse the equipment.
Also for the kitchen
Under-sink reverse osmosis
Cloud RO is an under-sink reverse osmosis system — NSF/ANSI 58, kitchen tap, not a whole-house tank. The primary button is a tagged Amazon under-sink RO listing. Cloud buy-direct and Waterdrop sit under that. Check the exact listing if PFAS is why you are shopping. A certifier-listed pitcher is the cheap first step.
Buy Cloud RO directShop Waterdrop reverse osmosisShop PFAS-listed pitchers
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.
Whole-house carbon for chlorine
That is chlorine. A whole-house carbon filter with an NSF/ANSI 42 chlorine claim is the usual match. A softener will not take chlorine out.
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.
Softener vs carbon vs under-sink RO
A sketch for Tubac, tied to the best match above. Not a quote.
| Box | What it does | Ballpark (estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| Salt-based softenerBest match | Removes hardness. Needs a drain. Illegal in some sewer districts. | About $800–$2,500 for a common residential unit (equipment). Installed jobs run higher. |
| Whole-house carbon | Chlorine or chloramine taste — match the listing. Does not soften. | About $400–$1,800 for a typical tank-and-head kit (equipment). |
| Under-sink reverse osmosisBest match | Kitchen tap. Check NSF/ANSI 58 if PFAS or nitrate is why you are shopping. | About $200–$600 on Amazon search; named under-sink units vary. |
These are ballpark equipment ranges, not installed quotes and not what a dealer will write on a kitchen-table sheet. Prices move. Confirm the sewer rule before you price a brine tank.
On the report
- Water utility
- EPCOR Tubac
- Hardness
- 17 grains per gallon on the unregulated substances table leaving the treatment facility (year sampled 2023). Single printed value — not a range. The FAQ prints approximately 17 gpg and classifies Soft <1, Slightly Hard 1–3.4, Moderately Hard 3.5–6.9, Hard 7–10.4, Very Hard >10.5 gpg. 17 gpg is Very Hard on that scale. The report does not print hardness in ppm. We do not invent a conversion. — EPCOR 2025 Water Quality Report — Tubac (PWS AZ0412001)
- Disinfectant
- Chlorine residual 0.86 ppm highest running annual average (range 0.41–1.40), MRDL 4.0, 2025 distribution-system table. Water additive used to control microbes. The FAQ says chlorine is added as a disinfectant — not chloramine. — EPCOR 2025 Water Quality Report — Tubac (PWS AZ0412001)
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. No Tubac, Santa Cruz County, or Arizona sanitation prohibition comparable to LACSD Measure S turned up in the research for the utility's report. Still ask the agency on the sewer bill before cutting a brine drain — rules change by jurisdiction, not by metro-area folklore.
How to get your water tested
The report on this page is for the public water system. It is not a test of the faucet in one house. Pipes inside a house can change the water.
For a test of your own tap, use a laboratory on the Arizona Department of Health Services list of certified drinking-water labs.
If your water comes from a private well, test it once a year. A city water report does not cover a private well.
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
Tubac drinking water is EPCOR Tubac (PWS AZ0412001). The 2025 report says EPCOR provides water to approximately 750 service connections in the Tubac district, south of Tucson near the U.S./Mexico border. The source is groundwater from the southern Upper Santa Cruz Valley (USCV) Sub-Basin. The report names three wells with depth typically less than 200 feet, recharged primarily by the Santa Cruz River. This page is AZ0412001 chemistry — not a Valley-metro blend, and not Tucson, Rio Verde, Paradise Valley, or Phoenix.
No Tubac, Santa Cruz County, or Arizona residential self-regenerating softener ban like LACSD Measure S turned up. Ask the agency on the sewer bill before you cut a brine drain. This is not a legal opinion, and it is not a statewide finding.
The unregulated table leaving the treatment facility (year sampled 2023) prints hardness 17 grains per gallon. The FAQ prints approximately 17 gpg and lists Soft less than 1, Slightly Hard 1 to 3.4, Moderately Hard 3.5 to 6.9, Hard 7 to 10.4, and Very Hard greater than 10.5 gpg. 17 gpg is Very Hard on that scale. The report does not print hardness in ppm. We do not invent a conversion.
Chlorine residual 0.86 ppm highest running annual average (range 0.41–1.40) on the 2025 distribution-system table. MRDL 4.0. Water additive used to control microbes. The FAQ says chlorine is added as a disinfectant. That is free chlorine, not chloramine.
Also printed: arsenic 9.5 ppb highest (range 4.0–9.5, MCL 10) on the 2025 leaving-the-plant table. The report notes an arsenic-removal facility keeps levels below standards. Barium 0.0079 ppm (2023). Fluoride 1.6 ppm (2023). Nitrate 1.0 ppm (range 0.32–1.0, 2025). Sodium 48 ppm (2024). Chromium 2.4 ppb (2023). Gross alpha including radon and uranium 14.3 pCi/L (range 4.08–14.3, 2023). TTHMs 7.4 ppb highest running annual average (range 6.2–7.4, 2025). Lead 90th percentile ND and copper 0.13 ppm (2024; 10 samples). pH 7.6 (2023).
PFAS leaving-the-plant table, 2024: PFOA ND; PFOS 54.7 ppt (range 2.53–54.7); PFHxS 11.4 ppt (range ND–11.4); PFNA ND; GenX ND; PFBS 13.6 ppt (range 1.9–13.6); Hazard Index 1 (range 0–1). EPA MCLs for these rows are effective 2029. Those are printed numbers, not a medical claim. Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Questions we can answer from the report
How hard is Tubac tap water?
17 grains per gallon on the unregulated substances table leaving the treatment facility (year sampled 2023). Single printed value — not a range. The FAQ prints approximately 17 gpg and classifies Soft <1, Slightly Hard 1–3.4, Moderately Hard 3.5–6.9, Hard 7–10.4, Very Hard >10.5 gpg. 17 gpg is Very Hard on that scale. The report does not print hardness in ppm. We do not invent a conversion. Source: EPCOR 2025 Water Quality Report — Tubac (PWS AZ0412001).
Does Tubac use chlorine or chloramine?
Chlorine residual 0.86 ppm highest running annual average (range 0.41–1.40), MRDL 4.0, 2025 distribution-system table. Water additive used to control microbes. The FAQ says chlorine is added as a disinfectant — not chloramine. Source: EPCOR 2025 Water Quality Report — Tubac (PWS AZ0412001).
Is a salt-based water softener legal in Tubac?
No district prohibition found. No Tubac, Santa Cruz County, or Arizona sanitation prohibition comparable to LACSD Measure S turned up in the research for the utility's report. Still ask the agency on the sewer bill before cutting a brine drain — rules change by jurisdiction, not by metro-area folklore. No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up. This is not a legal opinion.
What should I do about Tubac tap water?
Salt-based water softener. A salt-based softener is the thing that actually removes hardness. Size it from your grains and how much water you use, not bathroom count. It needs a drain. If the job is drinking water at the kitchen, under-sink reverse osmosis is the usual path. Cloud RO is the preferred Amazon listing on this site (tag tapmatch-20). We do not claim we use it.
Sources
- 2025 Water Quality Report — Tubac (PWS AZ0412001) — EPCOR. Accessed 2026-09-28.
- Water quality reports (Arizona) — EPCOR. Accessed 2026-09-28.
Updated September 28, 2026. Numbers here are what the utility's report or the state record printed, plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.