Small water systems in Los Angeles County often struggle to provide their customers with clean drinking water at an affordable rate due to groundwater contamination, financial management problems and other issues, according to a report from UCLA Law released Monday.

The report's authors look at the challenges facing L.A.'s small water systems, which have fewer than 10,000 customers but are numerous in the county and service more than 250,000 customers.

"To be clear, many small water systems in L.A. County provide safe and affordable drinking water. The problem is that many others do not," wrote the report's authors, Cara Horowitz, Nathaniel Logar and James Salzman. "If we take the human right to water seriously, the place to start is with small water systems."

According to the report, L.A. County has over 200 water providers. The largest, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, has more than 4 million customers, while the smallest, Winterhaven Mobile Estates in Antelope, serves just 25 customers.