How we protect water quality every day
Aug 18, 2026
Most of us turn on the tap without thinking much about what happens before the water reaches our glass. Or what happens after we use it to ensure treated water meets standards before returning to the environment. Water Quality Month is a good time to recognize the people, testing, and monitoring that help keep Roseville’s water safe and reliable every day.
Testing before the water goes back into the environment
Roseville’s two regional wastewater treatment plants clean water from everyday activities like showering, flushing toilets and running the dishwasher. Throughout the treatment process, that water is tested to make sure everything is working as it should.
Each year, staff perform at least 82,000 laboratory tests at the Pleasant Grove and Dry Creek treatment plants.
Some tests confirm water meets state and federal standards. Others help staff check equipment, track treatment conditions and make adjustments along the way. And in many cases, Roseville tests are more often than required.
Testing from treatment to tap
Roseville’s drinking water system includes a treatment plant, hundreds of miles of pipelines, storage facilities and other equipment that move water across the city. With so many parts of the system, testing at different points helps make sure water quality stays consistent from treatment to tap.
A year-round commitment
Whether water is headed to your tap or being returned to the environment after treatment, testing is happening every step of the way.
“These numbers give you a sense of how much work happens behind the scenes every day,” said George Hanson, Water Utility Manager “Our teams are constantly testing, monitoring and making adjustments to protect the quality of water we deliver to customers and the water we return to the environment."
For drinking water, testing helps protect the water delivered to homes and businesses. For wastewater, testing helps make sure used water is properly treated and meets strict standards before it is returned to the environment.
Leare more about our drinking water tests at Roseville.ca.gov/waterquality.
Testing before the water goes back into the environment
Roseville’s two regional wastewater treatment plants clean water from everyday activities like showering, flushing toilets and running the dishwasher. Throughout the treatment process, that water is tested to make sure everything is working as it should.
Each year, staff perform at least 82,000 laboratory tests at the Pleasant Grove and Dry Creek treatment plants.
Some tests confirm water meets state and federal standards. Others help staff check equipment, track treatment conditions and make adjustments along the way. And in many cases, Roseville tests are more often than required.
Testing from treatment to tap
Roseville’s drinking water system includes a treatment plant, hundreds of miles of pipelines, storage facilities and other equipment that move water across the city. With so many parts of the system, testing at different points helps make sure water quality stays consistent from treatment to tap.
- 31 locations across the city are sampled every week to monitor water quality as it moves through the distribution system.
- At the water treatment plant, operators perform roughly 30 water quality tests every day.
- Additional samples from both the treatment plant and distribution system are sent to outside laboratories for further testing.
- Roseville also monitors its groundwater supply, including seven groundwater wells and 14 monitoring wells. Those groundwater and monitoring wells account for about 750 samples each year as part of Roseville’s Aquifer Storage and Recovery program.
A year-round commitment
Whether water is headed to your tap or being returned to the environment after treatment, testing is happening every step of the way.
“These numbers give you a sense of how much work happens behind the scenes every day,” said George Hanson, Water Utility Manager “Our teams are constantly testing, monitoring and making adjustments to protect the quality of water we deliver to customers and the water we return to the environment."
For drinking water, testing helps protect the water delivered to homes and businesses. For wastewater, testing helps make sure used water is properly treated and meets strict standards before it is returned to the environment.
Leare more about our drinking water tests at Roseville.ca.gov/waterquality.