Understand Del Mar water quality with Kraken Water Systems: city water reports, hardness, chloramine taste and home water-treatment options.
Water provider: City of Del Mar
Latest report reviewed: 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
Report status: The City reports that its water met all federal and state drinking-water health standards.
Water source and treatment: Water purchased through the San Diego County Water Authority and treated at San Diego’s Miramar Water Treatment Plant.
Hardness: Average 242 ppm—approximately 14.1 grains per gallon.
Total dissolved solids (TDS): Average 533 ppm.
Common homeowner concerns: Hard-water scale, spotting on fixtures and glass, chloramine taste/odor, and tankless water-heater maintenance.
View the Official Del Mar Water Quality Report
Del Mar has that coastal San Diego feeling people come from all over to experience. It is mornings walking the beach, afternoons at Powerhouse Park, dinner in the Village, and ocean views that make an ordinary day feel a little less ordinary. Between its seaside neighborhoods, independent shops, restaurants, and famous racetrack, Del Mar has held onto a character that feels distinctly its own.
The community’s development began in the 1880s, and Del Mar officially incorporated in 1959. Its reputation as a seaside retreat grew during Hollywood’s golden era, when movie stars came for the beaches and horse racing. The Del Mar Racetrack opened in 1937 with Bing Crosby welcoming the first fan through the gates—a connection that remains part of the town’s identity today.
You can still experience that history alongside the places residents enjoy every day: Powerhouse and Seagrove parks, North Beach, the San Dieguito Lagoon, and the walkable Village. Even the historic Powerhouse has a water-treatment connection: in 1965, it became an experimental desalination facility exploring ways to turn seawater into drinking water.
For homeowners, that appreciation for where you live carries into how you care for your home.
That includes the water running through it.
The City of Del Mar’s annual water-quality report provides a starting point for understanding the municipal supply. Its 2025 report states that the water met federal and state drinking-water health standards.
Meeting those standards does not mean water is free of hardness minerals or that every homeowner will like its taste.
Common concerns include:
White mineral deposits around faucets and showerheads
Spots on shower glass, dishes, and fixtures
Scale buildup inside water heaters and appliances
Chloramine taste or odor
Dissolved minerals affecting drinking-water taste
Your plumbing, existing treatment equipment, and household water use also affect what you experience at the tap.
Yes. Del Mar’s 2025 report lists average hardness at 242 ppm, or approximately 14.1 grains per gallon.
Hardness minerals can accumulate on fixtures and inside water-using equipment. If you are constantly cleaning white buildup, fighting spots on shower glass, or dealing with scale in a tankless water heater, a properly sized water softener may be worth considering.
Kraken Water Systems evaluates your water, household demand, and plumbing before recommending equipment. The goal is to address the problem you are actually experiencing.
Water softeners reduce the calcium and magnesium responsible for hardness scale. A properly sized system can help reduce mineral buildup on fixtures and in water heaters and appliances.
Reverse osmosis provides filtered drinking and cooking water at a dedicated kitchen faucet. It is an option for homeowners looking to reduce dissolved solids and improve water used for coffee, ice, cooking, and everyday drinking.
Del Mar’s report identifies chloramines as the distribution-system disinfectant. Carbon filtration selected and sized for chloramine reduction can help address taste and odor throughout the home. Carbon filtration and water softening serve different purposes, and some homes benefit from both.
Hardness minerals can build up inside a tankless water heater’s heat exchanger. Descaling and maintenance help manage those deposits and provide an opportunity to inspect service valves, connections, and equipment condition.
A citywide report gives you useful background. A home evaluation helps connect that information to your own fixtures, plumbing, and equipment.
Kraken can help you understand:
Whether hardness is behind the buildup you are seeing
Which treatment addresses your taste and odor concerns
Whether existing equipment needs service or replacement
How to size a system around your home’s water demand
We explain the options and recommend treatment based on your water and your priorities.
Kraken Water Systems provides water-treatment and plumbing services for Del Mar homeowners, from established Village properties to coastal homes and hillside neighborhoods.
Services include:
Existing water-treatment system inspections and upgrades
CSLB C-36 Plumbing License #1157048
Review the City of Del Mar’s annual report for published testing results. Confirm the utility serving your address, particularly if your property has a Del Mar mailing address outside the City’s water-service area.
Not sure what your Del Mar home needs?
Request a Water Treatment Evaluation