States → Texas
State profile · EPA SDWIS + UCMR5
Texas Drinking Water Quality
7,351 public water systems serve 33,253,313 people across Texas, with every Safe Drinking Water Act violation and UCMR5 PFAS result on record.
- 7,351
- Water systems
- 746,210
- Total violations
- 90.2%
- Systems w/ a violation
- 93.1%
- PFAS detection rate
The verdict
Across Texas, 6,631 of 7,351 water systems (90.2%) carry at least one EPA violation, and 1,068 of 1,147 UCMR5-tested systems show PFAS.
- 746,210
- Total EPA violations on record
- 22%
- Health-based (MCL / treatment)
- 90.2%
- Systems with ≥1 violation
- 93.1%
- UCMR5 PFAS detection rate
Water Systems
7,351
Total Violations
746,210
Violation Rate
90.2%
PFAS Detection
93.1%
1,068 of 1,147 tested
Violation Composition
How Texas's 746,210 violations break down by type, per EPA SDWIS classification.
Health-based (162,945) Monitoring/Reporting (583,265)
| Metric | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Public water systems | 7,351 | - |
| Population served | 33,253,313 | - |
| Total violations | 746,210 | 100% |
| Health-based violations | 162,945 | 21.8% |
| Systems with violations | 6,631 | 90.2% |
| PFAS detection rate | 1,068 of 1,147 | 93.1% |
Health-based violations indicate the contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) or treatment-technique requirement. Monitoring/reporting violations indicate procedural issues (missed tests, late reports) - not necessarily a contamination event.
Largest Water Systems
City of Houston
Houston, TX · 2,970,543 served
San Antonio Water System
San Antonio, TX · 2,113,151 served
Dallas Water Utility
Dallas, TX · 1,356,479 served
City of Austin Water & Wastewater
Austin, TX · 1,115,323 served
City of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, TX · 955,900 served
El Paso Water Utilities Public Service B
El Paso, TX · 747,168 served
City of Arlington
Arlington, TX · 405,420 served
City of Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, TX · 318,387 served
City of Plano
Plano, TX · 292,059 served
Lubbock Public Water System
Lubbock, TX · 275,041 served
City of Irving
Irving, TX · 264,546 served
City of Laredo
Laredo, TX · 260,046 served
City of Garland
Garland, TX · 248,822 served
City of Frisco
Frisco, TX · 231,910 served
City of McKinney
McKinney, TX · 224,043 served
City of Grand Prairie
Grand Prairie, TX · 201,843 served
Amarillo Municipal Water System
Amarillo, TX · 201,291 served
Brownsville Public Utilities Board
Brownsville, TX · 201,249 served
City of Georgetown
Georgetown, TX · 191,639 served
McAllen Public Utility
McAllen, TX · 189,957 served
Most Violations
#1 Seven Estates Wolfforth
11,570 #2 Franklin Water Systems 3 Des Peres
6,516 #3 Valley Estates Shallowater
4,987 #4 Oak Hill Acres Mobile Home Subdivision Houston
3,979 #5 Country View MHP Shallowater
3,651 #6 City of Brady Water System Brady
3,578 #7 Blue Ridge Mobile Home Park Hunt
3,136 #8 Warren Road Subdivision Water Supply Barker
3,063 #9 Patton Village West Water System Splendora
3,017 #10 Lee Limas Mobile Home Park Canutillo
3,001 #11 T L Water Jones Acres Newark
2,913 #12 South Midland County Water System Houston
2,848 #13 Derby Ing Houston
2,768 #14 Los Botines WSC Laredo
2,755 #15 Key Road Subdivision Water System Bloomington
2,592 Counties in Texas
Harris
1,292 systems · 6,016,117 served
· 78,495 violations
Dallas
37 systems · 3,180,170 served
· 2,618 violations
Bexar
82 systems · 2,376,579 served
· 13,955 violations
Tarrant
113 systems · 2,099,244 served
· 10,564 violations
Travis
138 systems · 1,547,700 served
· 7,557 violations
Collin
35 systems · 1,246,210 served
· 1,149 violations
El Paso
39 systems · 956,978 served
· 6,717 violations
Hidalgo
31 systems · 921,483 served
· 5,096 violations
Fort Bend
289 systems · 886,088 served
· 8,810 violations
Denton
98 systems · 811,262 served
· 10,762 violations
Montgomery
458 systems · 771,444 served
· 18,154 violations
Williamson
52 systems · 703,146 served
· 2,502 violations
Cameron
30 systems · 441,125 served
· 2,774 violations
Bell
30 systems · 418,473 served
· 1,709 violations
Brazoria
326 systems · 406,255 served
· 25,596 violations
Galveston
57 systems · 402,181 served
· 3,917 violations
Nueces
20 systems · 371,249 served
· 1,309 violations
Lubbock
75 systems · 315,226 served
· 50,449 violations
Hays
124 systems · 306,942 served
· 5,506 violations
Brazos
13 systems · 295,896 served
· 989 violations
McLennan
58 systems · 286,609 served
· 8,955 violations
Smith
47 systems · 281,563 served
· 4,260 violations
Webb
15 systems · 273,876 served
· 5,537 violations
Jefferson
23 systems · 252,985 served
· 2,290 violations
Ellis
34 systems · 251,348 served
· 2,967 violations
Comal
95 systems · 233,238 served
· 7,576 violations
Johnson
61 systems · 232,795 served
· 4,743 violations
Kaufman
31 systems · 212,736 served
· 1,389 violations
Guadalupe
18 systems · 207,597 served
· 3,891 violations
Potter
17 systems · 207,401 served
· 1,380 violations
Showing top 30 of 254 counties.
Drinking Water Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
How many water systems are in Texas? ▼
Texas has 7,351 public water systems serving approximately 33,253,313 people. These include community water systems, non-transient non-community systems, and transient non-community systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
How many drinking water violations are in Texas? ▼
Texas has 746,210 total drinking water violations on record, with 162,945 classified as health-based violations. 90.2% of water systems in the state have at least one violation.
Has PFAS been found in Texas drinking water? ▼
Of 1,147 water systems tested for PFAS in Texas, 1,068 had PFAS detected, a 93.1% detection rate. PFAS are persistent "forever chemicals" that do not break down in the environment.
What is the violation rate for Texas water systems? ▼
Texas's violation rate is 90.2%. This measures the percentage of public water systems that have at least one recorded violation in the EPA SDWIS database, including both health-based and monitoring/reporting violations.
Where does this Texas water data come from? ▼
All drinking water data comes from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) and the UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program. SDWIS is the federal database that tracks compliance for all public water systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Data Sources & Methodology
Drinking water violation data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS). PFAS testing data from the UCMR5 monitoring program. SDWIS tracks all public water systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 PFAS monitoring data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainWater Editorial
Every figure on PlainWater is rendered directly from EPA SDWIS drinking-water data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on EPA SDWIS data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.