The sentence you will hear on a sales call is “softeners are banned in California.” That sentence is false. The accurate sentence here is local: Inland Empire Utilities Agency Ordinance No. 109 § 2.6 does not allow a new or replacement self-regenerating softener that sends brine to a community sewer tributary to IEUA’s regional sewerage system. That is a regional sewer / POTW rule. It is not a statewide ban, and it is not a drinking-water PWS page.
What § 2.6 actually says
The January 20, 2021 IEUA Board meeting package prints Ordinance No. 109, “An ordinance of the Board of Directors of Inland Empire Utilities Agency … regulating the availability and use of the Regional Sewerage System.” Section 2.6, titled Restrictions on Self-Regenerating Water Softening Appliances, says:
The installation, replacement, or enlargement of any self-regenerating water softening appliance which discharges into the Community Sewer System that is tributary to the Regional Sewerage System shall not be allowed. Each Contracting Agency shall adopt a local ordinance to implement this restriction. This Section shall not apply to any portable exchange water softener of the type which is regenerated off-site at a lawfully regulated location. IEUA may make available to residential owners of (operational) self-regenerating water softeners a voluntary rebate program to compensate them for the reasonable value for removal and Disposal of the self-regenerating water softener appliance.
That is the text in the opened package. The signature block in that same PDF is dated “___________________, 2021” — the date line is blank. IEUA’s ordinances index lists Ordinance 109 – Regional Wastewater – Adopted 3/17/2021. We opened the package and the index. We did not open a separately signed March 17 PDF.
What IEUA tells residents that means
IEUA’s rebate page says the agency approved Ordinance (§ 2.6) prohibiting the new installation or replacement of self-regenerating water softeners — “the kind that uses rock salt (sodium chloride) or potassium chloride pellets.” The same page says:
- If you have a self-regenerating water softener now, you can keep it — you just can’t replace it or install a new one.
- If you want softening without on-site salt, contact a company that provides exchange tank services.
That matches the ordinance: an install / replace / enlarge ban with a portable-exchange exception, plus a voluntary rebate. It is not a Measure S-style “rip it out by this date” sentence. Do not upgrade it.
The rebate page prints its own dollar figures: a removal rebate “up to $2,000,” plumber-removal reimbursement “up to $250,” and “from $300 up to $2,000” as the reasonable-value range for a connected, working unit in the named cities. Those are IEUA’s printed rebate numbers, not equipment prices, and they can change. Use the rebate page. IEUA lists the contact as 909-993-1550 and softenerrebate@ieua.org.
The same page says, on average, a single self-regenerating water softener contributes up to 30 pounds of salt each month into the community’s water treatment system. That is IEUA’s published figure, not a measurement from a city tap report.
Which cities IEUA names
The rebate page names these cities for the removal rebate: Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, and Upland. City files already on this site that cite the same ordinance: Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland.
§ 2.6 applies where the community sewer is tributary to the IEUA regional sewerage system. Living in one of those city names is not enough if the address is on another sewer. Ask the agency on the sewer bill.
One city implementing ordinance (Ontario)
§ 2.6 tells each contracting agency to adopt a local ordinance. Ontario Municipal Code § 6-7.206 (Ord. 2755, effective April 4, 2002, as amended by Ord. 3190, effective October 7, 2021) prints the same rule in city code:
The installation, replacement, or enlargement of any self-regenerating water softening appliance which discharges into the community sewer system that is tributary to the regional sewerage system is not permitted. This section shall not apply to any portable exchange water softener of the type that is regenerated off-site at a lawfully regulated location.
That is Ontario city code implementing the regional restriction. Other contracting cities have their own sections. Open the city file for the address.
Why this is not “banned in California”
Water Code § 13148 (AB 1366) lets certain local agencies that own or operate a community sewer or water-recycling facility act on residential self-regenerating softeners, and only after a regional-board finding and a public hearing. Tools listed in the statute include prohibition of installation. § 13148(g) says the section does not limit portable-exchange water softening appliances. § 13148(h) defines a residential self-regenerating water softener as equipment that discharges brine into a community sewer system.
That is an authorization for districts. It is not a statewide prohibition. Most California addresses are not on the IEUA regional sewer. Santa Clarita Valley is a different district with a different rule; start at LACSD / SCV if that is the sewer on the bill. The statute map is on whether softeners are banned in California.
If you still want less scale on an IEUA sewer
Confirm the address first. Then the written paths that usually remain are:
- Portable-exchange softening if the exception applies — true soft water, brine made at a regulated plant, not at your cleanout. See portable-exchange softeners.
- Salt-free conditioning if the goal is scale behavior. It will not change a hardness test the way a softener does. See what salt-free units are not.
- Kitchen reverse osmosis if the job is drinking water, not whole-house hardness. That is a different job than a brine tank.
A dealer who cuts a brine line to a laundry sink on this sewer is not doing you a favor. Ask where the drain goes. If the house is on a septic tank, this sewer ordinance may not be the binding document — and a septic is not automatically allowed to take brine either.
This page is not a legal opinion, not a permit, and not a hardness report.