Utilities

Like many smaller cities, East Palo Alto contracts with outside agencies on behalf of the community in order to provide the essential core services of water, garbage and recycling pick up, and sewer:

Water

Most of our community’s water connections (about 80%) are served by the City of East Palo Alto water system that is operated by Veolia (650-322-2083). The remaining connections are served by either Palo Alto Park Mutual Water Company or the O’Connor Tract Co-op Water Company. Click here to view a map of East Palo Alto water service areas.

Veolia supplies our water from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). See your service provider's webpage for current rates. Annual Consumer Confidence Reports for 2019,2020, and 2021 may be found below:

For information on potential causes of high consumption and for leak investigation information please click here. The Veolia high usage/ leak investigation operational workflow may be found here. Water quality general information may be found here. Questions regarding water quality within the Veolia service are may be submitted here.

A water quality informational report will go to City Council on 10/4/2022, and the presentation may be found here. The full City Council report may be found here.

Storm

As part of the East Palo Alto General Plan, the City's goal is to manage stormwater, safely, efficiently, and sustainably. The intent is to reduce dangers from flooding, protect community safety and property, and provide well maintained infrastructure to the community while reducing the negative environmental impacts of storm run-off on creeks and the Bay. The Public Works Maintenance Division maintains the storm drain services this includes clearing blocked drains, removing debris from storm drain structures, and cleaning and repairing drainpipes.

Sand bags may be picked up in order to protect property's from rising water before a major storm. Find information regarding sand bag station locations here.

The Storm Drain Master Plan identifies and analyzes the conditions of East Palo Alto's storm drain system performance and operations procedures and determines necessary improvements.

Find the 2014 Storm Drain Master Plan here.

Garbage & Recycling

Garbage service and recycling in East Palo Alto is provided by Recology of San Mateo County through a franchise agreement with the City. All addresses in East Palo Alto have garbage and recycling pickup services. Click on the Recology link for lots of information about garbage/recycling services, how to use the service, and how you can help to keep our community clean and attractive. Check these other resources for more information about properly disposing of and recycling other items:

Business Solid Waste Services

Businesses within East Palo Alto are required to have a solid waste contract for services with the City’s franchise service provider, presently Recology of San Mateo County. More information is provided by Recology at this link or by calling 650-595-3900. Recology offers all required solid waste services including Recycling, Organics, and Trash, all of which are required for local businesses.

Yard Trimmings and Compost Requirements: Per California State Law AB 341 and AB 1826: As part of California’s recycling and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission goals, businesses are required to collect yard trimmings, food scraps and food-soiled paper for composting, effective April 1, 2016. Multifamily buildings with five or more units will be required to collect yard trimmings, effective April 1, 2016.

Mandatory Commercial Recycling (MCR) program: Recycling Requirements: Beginning July 1, 2012, businesses that generate four (4) or more cubic yards of solid waste, or multi-family dwellings with more than five (5) units are required to have recycling services. More information can be found here.

Street sweeping is an important part of keeping our City clean and attractive, and the National Pollution and Discharge Elimination System Act (NPDES) mandates that streets must be kept clean to help prevent runoff pollution from flowing into the bay. In general, the more commercial, heavily-trafficked areas get swept weekly, while on more lighter-trafficked residential streets, it takes place twice a month. Click here to view a map showing the street sweeping schedules for various parts of the City.

Sewer: Sanitary sewer service in East Palo Alto is governed and operated primarily by the East Palo Alto Sanitary District (EPASD), a special district which is separate from the City, with its own Board of Directors elected by the voters in East Palo Alto. Some areas are provided with sewer service by the West Bay Sanitary District, which is also a special district, and which includes several other jurisdictions.

How to Report a Maintenance Issue to CalTrans

East Palo Alto is bordered by areas that are owned and operated by adjacent jurisdictions, such as Menlo Park and Palo Alto, Midpeninsula Open Space District, private landowners, and the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans). If you notice a maintenance issue, such as a downed tree, trash, graffiti, etc. on CalTrans administered areas, you may contact them directly to file a Customer Service Request at this online portal - https://csr.dot.ca.gov

In the portal, use the mapping tool to identify the area and write a brief description of the issue. CalTrans will acknowledge your request and deploy the appropriate crew. To check if your request has been acknowledged, you can navigate back to the portal, and hover over the pin in the map where the request was made. Please note that it may take some time for a request to be fulfilled.

Areas that are often mistaken as East Palo Alto but are under CalTrans authority include the highway clovers at Highway 101 and the marshland area south of Bayfront Expressway and west of University Ave.

If you'd like a staff member to assist you with a request, please call (650) 853-3189 or email cleancity@cityofepa.org

Flood Information