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City of Buffalo

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
1,767 people
Connections
900
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Buffalo, TX
County
Leon
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

75831

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1993 to 2025.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), chromium (total), fluoride, nitrate, arsenic and uranium: Texas’s own results, samples taken from Sept. 28, 2020 to June 25, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.91ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.91 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits5

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

12.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 12.6 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 13.2 ppb, in 2018.

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

7.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 5.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 7.7 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 5.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 6.9 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.8 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. Its highest single sample was 3.4 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 4.2 ppb, in 2012.

What handles it

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.082ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024 average: 0.075 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.082 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.11 ppm. In 2024, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.075 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.34 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.073ppm

Highest sample; found in 13 of 14

2026 average: 0.026 ppm

The highest sample, in 2023, was 0.073 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.026 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.24 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Uranium

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 13 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), chromium (total), fluoride, nitrate, arsenic and uranium results here are Texas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Buffalo’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 Sept. 28, 2020 to June 25, 2026.

Testing your own tap

City of Buffalo’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 City of Buffalo serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Chaparral Laboratories, Inc.

    Huntsville, TX · about 54 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (936) 291-1881

  • Aqua-Tech Laboratories, Inc.

    Bryan, TX · about 62 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (979) 778-3707

  • Analytical Environmental Labs

    Tyler, TX · about 66 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (903) 509-8700

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

Sources

PWSID TX1450001. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Leon County

All Texas utilities

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