Water quality is controlled by the Public Works Department. The system is water pumped out of the ground, chlorinated, then pumped throughout the system. Tests daily, weekly, and monthly check the amount of Chlorine in the system. These tests also check for other chemicals as required by the California State Water Board. The annual reports are sent to all system users and posted on this website.

Annual Water Quality Reports are listed below.

Well No. 1 on Alta Street was abandoned many years ago due to water quality issues. It was in a shallow aquifer.  

Well No. 2 was under the water tower and served to community for many years. It was low producing and couldn't keep up with growth.  

Well No. 3 at 201 C Street was recently abandoned due to low production and low efficiency.  

Well No. 4 at 750 South Alta is a high producing well supported by a solar system on Constellation Brands roof. This is a public-private partnership designed to keep water system costs as low as possible for our community.  

Well No. 5 at 725 Fanoe Road supplements the other wells pumping water to the area and boosting water to the tanks. Note: this well is currently undergoing cleaning prior to return to service.  

Well No. 6 at the corner of Katherine and Alpine in the Gonzales Agricultural Industrial Park has solar power to keep power costs under control.  

Well No. 7 is under construction. It was designed to replace well No. 3, using it plumbing and solar system. The location is at the Public Works Corporation Yard, 201 C Street. The well should come online in the spring of 2018.  

Water tanks provide storage of water so the pumps do not need to run all of the time. They are located at the intersection of Johnson Canyon Road and Iverson Road. Constellation Brands provided the land, another public-private partnership to improve our community.  

There are three tanks at the location. Two three million (3,000,000) gallon tanks and a single one million (1,000,000) gallon tank. This provides seven million (7,000,000) gallons of storage capacity for our system. Gonzales using about one million (1,000,000) gallons of water every day so we have 7 days of storage capacity without pumping.  

People ask about the water tower. This tower could hold one hundred thousand (100,000) gallons of water. This is not enough for our system. The tower has not been used for water storage for over 20 years. The height of the tower determined the pressure in our system. Now the pressure is controlled by the elevation of our newer storage tanks on the hill.  

There are many miles of pipes under our streets and alleys. They range in size from 1" (one inch) to 18" (eighteen inches).  

There are many valves that control our water system. Most of the water system is run in parallel which means your water comes from more than one place and through many pipes. This means smaller pipes can act like larger ones when needed. This means we need to turn off several valves to stop one leak. If your water service is off for repairs, we try to do the work as quickly as possible. We also try to let people know when we are working on the pipes in their area.  

Gonzales' water system is controlled by a SCADA system. SCADA stands for Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition. The computer system monitors tank levels and turns on wells as needed. We program which wells run when needed. We rotate the wells by time and days of the week. The SCADA system tracks well data and records for reports. Daily reports are sent to staff. Alarms are also sent when specific levels or actions occur. If a well fails to start or stop, an alarm is sent to the on-call person and supervisors. This computer system has backup power for uninterrupted system control.

Most of us measure liquids in gallons. Water can also be measured in cubic feet.  One cubic foot of water is 7.48 gallons. Our water meters measure in 100 cubic feet, we call this a unit. When you get your utility bills, they are reported in units of 100 cubic feet (748 gallons). For example: 10 units is 7,480 gallons. 10 units in 30 days is 250 gallons per day.  

You can calculate how much water your household is using per month or per day. Units times 748 divided by 30 days is how many gallons of water are used per day.  

Units x 748 ÷ 30 = daily use [Units x 25 = daily gallons used]  

Contact Gonzales Public Works

To report a…

• Leak or break at your water meter
• A water quality issue
• Water leak in the street or fire hydrant
• Sewage spill or illicit discharge into a manhole
• Fallen street tree or limb

Call Gonzales City Hall at 831-675-5000 Monday-Friday (8 AM-5 PM).   Outside of city business hours, call the non-emergency dispatch number 831-755-5111 (they will contact the on-call public works person). If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, call 911.