Commercial Water Treatment in Merced & Los Banos, CA
Merced County feeds a lot of California. Its food processors, dairies, cold storage and packing operations run boilers, refrigeration and cooling systems on groundwater that changes from well to well. Hydrovida helps facilities in Merced and Los Banos cut water and energy costs, control scale and stay within discharge rules.
What you get
- An on-site look at your towers, boilers and water systems
- A written report with what we found
- Savings estimates you can take to your team
Get your free water analysis
No cost, no obligation. We’ll follow up to set up your on-site water analysis.
What's in Merced and Los Banos water
Both cities run on groundwater. The City of Merced draws from about 21 active wells in the Merced groundwater subbasin. In the city's most recent well testing, hardness ranged from 59 to 260 mg/L and averaged about 115 mg/L, so two sites across town can get very different water.
Los Banos, on the west side of the county, pumps from 13 wells, and its water is much harder and saltier. Its 2025 water quality report lists average hardness of 346 mg/L, ranging from 230 to 740 mg/L, and dissolved solids averaging 723 mg/L, ranging from 480 to 1,400 mg/L. Water like that scales boilers, condensers and tower fill fast and keeps softeners working hard. In both cities, treatment has to match the water you actually get.
Who we work with in Merced and Los Banos
The area's industry includes poultry and meat processing, dairies and dairy processing, tomato and fruit processing, nut hulling and packing, cold storage, and the university, hospital and public buildings in Merced. Processors run boilers for steam and sanitation and ammonia refrigeration with evaporative condensers. Packing and cold storage run produce cooling and refrigerated rooms through harvest. We already work with facilities across California.
How Hydrovida fixes it
For boilers, we test, service or replace softeners and set treatment that protects tubes and cuts blowdown and fuel, which matters most on hard Los Banos water. For cooling towers and evaporative condensers, we set inhibitor and cycles for your well water and add controllers with remote monitoring. When equipment is already scaled, we clean it and keep it clean.
For processors with high-strength wash water, we help improve discharge quality. For campuses, hospitals and any site with a cooling tower, we write and maintain ASHRAE 188 water management plans and run routine Legionella testing. Our chemistry is made by Hydrovida, with NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 certified chemistry options available.
Discharge rules
The City of Merced's industrial pretreatment program requires food processors and other businesses that discharge process wastewater to complete an industrial user survey. Significant industrial users need a city wastewater discharge permit before discharging, and pretreatment may be required. Los Banos businesses should check their discharge requirements with the city.
We didn't find a local rebate for cooling tower or boiler equipment in either city. The biggest savings usually come from softening and cycles that fit your water, plus less blowdown to treat and discharge.
What you can expect
Across 120+ facilities, Hydrovida customers average a 30% reduction in water use and $36K a year in savings. Eight in 10 facilities we analyze find savings, and we've never lost a customer because of performance. Start with a free water analysis.
What we do in Merced & Los Banos
Boilers & Steam
Protect tubes and cut fuel.
Water Softening & Pretreatment
Test, tune, service or replace softeners.
Cooling Towers & HVAC
Run more cycles, buy less water.
Cooling Tower Cleaning
Remove sludge, scale and slime.
Wastewater & Discharge
Meet discharge limits and lower surcharges.
Controllers & Remote Monitoring
Catch problems the day they start.
- 120+
- Facilities served
- $36K
- Average yearly savings per customer
- 30%
- Average water reduction
- 0
- Customers lost to performance
Averages across Hydrovida customers.
Questions
How hard is Los Banos water?
Los Banos's 2025 water quality report lists average hardness of 346 mg/L, ranging from 230 to 740 mg/L, and average dissolved solids of 723 mg/L.
Why does Merced's water vary?
Merced runs on about 21 wells. In the city's most recent testing, hardness ranged from 59 to 260 mg/L depending on the well.
Do food processors in Merced need a discharge permit?
Businesses that discharge process wastewater must complete the city's industrial user survey, and significant industrial users need a discharge permit before discharging.
What does a free water analysis include?
We test your well water and system water, review your softeners, boilers and cycles, and show where you can save water, fuel and chemicals. There is no cost and no obligation.