Texas water quality by city

By Daryna Klochko · Data checked Oct 15, 2026
Short answer

We cover 12 Texas cities so far: Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, Pasadena, Pflugerville and San Antonio. Statewide, EPA’s UCMR 5 testing covered 1,154 water systems. Of these, 622 had at least one PFAS detected, and 106 had a PFOA or PFOS sample at or above 4.0 ppt, the level of the federal limit.

Systems tested1,154UCMR 5 · 362 large systems
Any PFAS detected62254% of systems tested
PFOA or PFOS ≥ 4 ppt106At least one sample, 2023–2025
Cities covered12Pages with full data

A single sample at or above 4.0 ppt is not a violation. The PFOA and PFOS limits apply to a running annual average, and utilities must comply from 2029. City numbers describe the water system, not your tap.

Texas cities

Listed A–Z. We don’t rank cities: utilities sample in different years and at different points.

Arlington Water Utilities · 413,955 people

Arlington

Lead · 90th pct1.2 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOS up to 4.6 ppt HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs1 (0 health-based) Austin Water · 1,115,323 people

Austin

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOS up to 4.8 ppt Hardness93 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrs5 (5 health-based) Corpus Christi Water · 317,247 people

Corpus Christi

Lead · 90th pct1.4 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5No PFOA/PFOS; 3 other PFAS Hardness236 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrs3 (2 health-based) Dallas Water Utilities · 1,356,479 people

Dallas

Lead · 90th pct1.1 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOA up to 6.3 ppt HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrsNone El Paso Water · 747,168 people

El Paso

Lead · 90th pct0 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOS up to 8.5 ppt HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs53 (0 health-based) Fort Worth Water · 955,900 people

Fort Worth

Lead · 90th pct3 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOA up to 8.3 ppt HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs2 (1 health-based) Houston Public Works · 2,970,543 people

Houston

Lead · 90th pct5 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5No PFOA/PFOS; 4 other PFAS Hardness135.5 mg/L EPA violations · 10 yrs2 (1 health-based) Laredo Utilities · 260,046 people

Laredo

Lead · 90th pct1.4 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5No PFOA/PFOS; 1 other PFAS HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs18 (4 health-based) Lubbock Water · 266,450 people

Lubbock

Lead · 90th pct1.4 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5No PFOA/PFOS; 1 other PFAS HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs4 (0 health-based) City of Pasadena · 152,000 people

Pasadena

Lead · 90th pct3.7 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOS up to 4.9 ppt HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs3 (0 health-based) City of Pflugerville · 63,464 people

Pflugerville

Lead · 90th pct1.1 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5PFOS up to 14.4 ppt HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrs66 (14 health-based) SAWS · 2,643,729 people

San Antonio

Lead · 90th pct1.6 ppb PFAS · UCMR 5No PFOA/PFOS; 3 other PFAS HardnessNot reported EPA violations · 10 yrsNone

Find your water system by ZIP

A ZIP code can be served by more than one system. Your water bill names yours.

Hardness in Texas cities

Austin
93 mg/L (5.4 gpg)
Average, moderately hard; range 70–126 mg/L
Corpus Christi
236 mg/L (13.8 gpg)
Average, very hard
Houston
135.5 mg/L (7.9 gpg)
Average, hard; range 43.5–229 mg/L

Classes: USGS. 1 gpg = 17.1 mg/L as calcium carbonate. City figures come from each utility’s report. No hardness figure in our sources for Arlington, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Laredo, Lubbock, Pasadena, Pflugerville, San Antonio.

PFAS testing in Texas

Between 2023 and 2025, EPA’s fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) had 1,154 Texas public water systems test for 29 PFAS and lithium. 622 systems (54%) reported at least one PFAS at or above the reporting level. 106 had at least one PFOA or PFOS sample at or above 4.0 ppt, the level of the federal limit.

Source: EPA UCMR 5 final occurrence data (Aug 2026 release). Counts exclude lithium.

PFAS testing in neighboring states: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Sources

TCEQ Drinking Water Viewerdwv.tceq.texas.gov EPA UCMR 5 occurrence dataepa.gov EPA: find your utility’s water quality reportepa.gov How we researchMethod