Birch Creek Recreation WSC

What EPA’s and Texas’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves: 340 people
Connections: 168
Water source: Groundwater bought from another system
Based in: Somerville, TX
County: Burleson
Owner: Local government

The ZIP code it serves

77879

The short answer

Nothing in EPA’s and Texas’s records for this utility is above a health goal. That covers nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals, plus lead and copper, not everything. 3 health-based violations since 2016.

What was found

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate: Texas’s own results, samples taken from Aug. 27, 2020 to June 18, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

80.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 30.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 80.5 ppb, in 2022, which EPA rounds to 80 ppb to compare: at its legal limit of 80 ppb, not above it. Its highest single sample was 152 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 30.5 ppb. EPA recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 86.1 ppb, in 2015, and EPA recorded violations in 2015 and 2016.

What handles it

NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

11.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 3.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 11.9 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 20.5 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 3.5 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 14.3 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.59ppm

Highest sample; found in 5 of 7

2026, one sample: 0.59 ppm

The highest sample, in 2026, was 0.59 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its one sample was 0.59 ppm.

What handles it

NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.

Lead

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or rule	Type	Period	Measured	Status
Lead and Copper Rule Revisions	The required inventory of lead service lines was not completed or submitted on time.EPA: LSL Inventory	Oct. 17, 2024	—	Resolved
TTHM	The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average	July 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 2016	0.085 MG/L	Resolved
TTHM	The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average	Jan. 1, 2016 to March 31, 2016	0.1 MG/L	Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 3 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate results here are Texas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Birch Creek Recreation WSC’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has the contaminants this page does not show.
Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.
What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.
Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; Texas’s results run from Aug. 27, 2020 to June 18, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Birch Creek Recreation WSC’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Texas certifies.

The 3 labs Texas certifies closest to the area Birch Creek Recreation WSC serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

Aqua-Tech Laboratories, Inc.
Bryan, TX · about 19 miles
Certified for bacteria, lead and copper
(979) 778-3707
R&C Joy, Inc.
Katy, TX · about 60 miles
Certified for bacteria
(281) 858-5988
Chaparral Laboratories, Inc.
Huntsville, TX · about 63 miles
Certified for bacteria, lead and copper
(936) 291-1881

Texas Well Owner Network, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension: Well Informed screening events, where well owners bring in water samples to be screened for common contaminants, followed by an hour-long session explaining the results. Upcoming events are on the network's calendar. Trainings, Texas Well Owner Network.

All 80 certified labs for Texas