You are awakened from a deep sleep by your radio alarm clock. After tapping the “snooze” button a few times, you shuffle into the bathroom and turn on the shower. There, under the spray of hot water, you begin to feel ready to face the day -- just as soon as you've had your morning coffee.

Meanwhile, at 6:14 a.m., Cal Water employee Dave Kirsling turns a valve at the outlet structure of the Bear Gulch reservoir, the collection point for water that accumulates in the Company's 1,300-acre watershed and flows to the reservoir through the Bear Gulch Creek. After being released from the reservoir, the water is sent to the treatment plant, where it goes through a multi-barrier treatment process that culminates with exposure to ultraviolet light. It is one of the first and largest drinking water treatment plants using this technology in California, and because it's there, you can savor that morning shower-and cup of coffee-with the assurance that your water meets stringent state and federal water quality standards.