Sacramento area; Water quality and indoor pests? (Davis, Rocklin: low crime, house)

[taramesk]

Hello; we are relocating to the Sac area (probably Rocklin) soon from Florida.

1) I was wondering how the water quality is from the tapwater; do you need a filter to drink it (like a Brita or reverse osmosis) and do you use a water softener for the entire house for hardness or chloramines? (In Florida the tap water is full of chloramines and very hard.)

2) Also, we have a lot of black widows, brown recluses, and HUGE roaches in FL so we require a monthly pest service. Is the bug problem the same in Sac?


Thanks so much! Happy to be moving!

[misc916]

Welcome. Rocklin is considered one of the nicest locations in the Sacramento area. Can be considered very bland suburban, but good schools ,low crime,etc...So it's a nice family area if that's the type of environment you are looking for. Also an easy drive up I-80 to the Sierra Nevada mountains, Tahoe, and winter snow.
As far as your two questions:
1) I am not an expert on the technical aspects of our local water , but I do not believe the tap water here is considered 'hard' and filled with chloramines. I could be wrong so hopefully someone else will chime in. If anything you might just want a water purifier to remove any possible contanimants.
2) There are certainly bugs here , but I don't think on the same level of annoyance as Florida. I spent almost every summer in South Florida as a kid and that is one thing that always stands out in my memory. You have so many strange and huge bugs down there LOL! I recall those huge roaches (I think they called then Palmetto bugs?) and all the rest. I think Florida is more prone to that because of your humid and damp climate. Here in Sacramento it's a drier climate and we have a lot of types of spiders. Black widows are very common. I find them on occasion hiding in my garage and outside under rocks, wood piles, and spots like that , but never in the house. Sometimes get little spiders in the house or daddy long legs. I've heard of Brown recluse in the area , but have not personally seen any so I don't think they are as common? Sometimes we'll get some common brown ants in the house. There are plenty of bees around (including Sacramento Bee newspaper LOL) and also mosquitos in the evening (West Nile has been a somewhat issue here with aerial spraying etc). So yes we have our share of bugs , but I think you'll find a nice change of pace coming from Florida.

[Damnitjanet]

Sacramento is considered a semi-arid area. Generally its stops raining here usually in May and doesn't start raining again until late September or early October. In the summer time the humidity gets really low in the summer. In the natural environment here, things don't rot in the summer, instead they rely on fire.

All of that means a lot less bugs here than Florida. Bugs thrive in wet warm damp places. In the Summer time the only things that are wet here are things you irrigate.

Water quality depends on your source of water. The City of Sacramento relies on pumps that pull water from the Sacramento River. As the water passes from Shasta to Sacramento, it goes through a huge agricultural area, where they grow everything from Rice, Tomatoes, and assorted fruits and veggies. That water probably won't have a high mineral content, but it might have residuals and off tastes from the pesticides used upstream. Your faucets won't need water softeners to prevent mineral deposits, but you still might want to use a Brita filter to eliminate lingering odors in the water. Depending on what suburb you live in and even parts of the City of Sacramento, you might get your water from the American River.

This water makes a more direct route to the area from the mountains avoiding most agricultural areas, so the water in these areas is pretty good. Again low mineral content, so no water softener needed.

Lastly, there are some areas that are too far to get water from the Rivers and depend on wells. Here the water can be very hit or miss. The water in Davis is well water and ag runoff can get into the wells. So the water is both harder (higher mineral content) and can have some residual pestides tastes.

[nmnita]

I never think of Sac having hard water and certainly they do not have bugs like you get in Florida.

Nita

[carol61]

I live in East Sac, the tap water near downtown, midtown etc is not hard, tastes very clean. I thinks it's as clear as bottled water. Re bugs; Sac doesn't have near the bugs or size of bugs that Florida has, its too dry here. After living in Florida you won't even notice bugs here unless you look really hard for them! Lol.

[things and stuff]

I have the same questions. Curious if somebody has lived in both the Sac Valley area and the Southeastern region of the country, and could tell us the difference in mosquitos and bugs.

I'm guessing theres less roaches but possibly as many if not more spiders in Sacramento. I hate roaches more but I find that spiders are harder to kill with pesticides. Borate is the best pesticide I've found, btw. I picked up on that when I lived in Florida.