California Water Service to Monitor for Lead and Copper in Schools Within Service Areas

SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/17/17 -- As part of its commitment to water quality, California Water Service (Cal Water), the largest subsidiary of California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT), announced today that it is finalizing plans to test for lead in water in schools within its service areas. The announcement follows the release of new guidelines for lead testing in schools by the State Water Resources Control Board's Division of Drinking Water (DDW) earlier today.

In accordance with the new guidelines, schools or school districts serving any kindergarten through 12th-grade level may request lead testing by its water utility; utilities will work with schools to develop a sampling plan, test samples, and conduct follow-up monitoring if any school needs to take corrective action on its plumbing fixtures.

"Protecting our customers' health and safety is our highest priority, and we follow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's lead and copper rule to the letter," said Tim Treloar, Vice President of Water Quality. "We are committed to supporting our school districts' efforts to protect students and ensure that the drinking water at their school sites meets lead limits."

With more than 700 schools in its service areas, Cal Water has consulted with public health experts and regulators on best practices to ensure the utility has a comprehensive, effective school sampling program. The company has also taken an inventory of its schools and is currently assessing the resources needed to implement the program.

In addition to complying with lead and copper sampling regulations, Cal Water ensures the safety of its water systems through rigorously monitoring water quality, maintaining and upgrading its systems to ensure that water circulates properly, testing the corrosiveness of the water and adding corrective measures when needed to prevent lead from plumbing fixtures from affecting water quality, and carefully planning and conducting thorough water quality testing before using any new source of water.

California Water Service serves about 2 million people through 480,300 service connections in California. The company, which has provided water service in the state since 1926, was ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Water Utilities in the West" in 2016 by J.D. Power in its inaugural Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study. Additional information may be obtained online at www.calwater.com.

Released January 17, 2017