How can I understand water quality?

AQUAOSO defines water quality as water that is clean enough to be used for the purpose it is intended.

Water quality is not just about drinking water standards, but whether the water is of the right quality for use in an agricultural or other operation. Water has different standards based on its intended use and we help you see where water contamination exceeds the levels set by regulation.

Water sources have historical delivery information indicating likelihood of the amount of water delivered to a water district. There are water quality monitoring wells in the platform from the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring  and Assessment (GAMA) dataset, which appear on reports and on the map in the research platform if a parcel is within a 5 mile vicinity of an exceedance.

NOTE: water quality data is only available in California.

Workflow Tip

If an exceedance appears on a report for a parcel or group of parcels, that is an indicator that you should look more closely at the water quality situation. This could trigger a conversation between you and the property owner and you and the appraiser. In some cases a geotechnical report should be used and scrutinized when water quality is a potential issue.