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City of Combes

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
3,500 people
Connections
1,100
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Combes, TX
County
Cameron
Owner
Local government
The 2 ZIP codes it serves

78535, 78552

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 3 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate: Texas’s own results, samples taken from March 19, 2020 to Sept. 9, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

47.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 32.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 47.9 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 170 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 32.9 ppb. EPA judges this limit at each sampling point, and recorded a violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2022. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 67.4 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

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

Below EPA’s limits2

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

13.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 6.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 13.8 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 40.1 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 6.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 28.2 ppb, in 2012.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.4ppm

Highest sample; found in 11 of 11

2026 average: 0.97 ppm

The highest sample, in 2026, was 1.4 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its four samples averaged 0.97 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

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.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claim: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. 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

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 20220.085 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2022 to June 30, 20220.087 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2022 to March 31, 20220.09 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 16 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. City of Combes’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 March 19, 2020 to Sept. 9, 2026.

Testing your own tap

City of Combes’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 lab Texas certifies closest to the area City of Combes serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Texas Department of State Health Services South Texas Laboratory

    Harlingen, TX · about 2 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (956) 364-8746

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 TX0310021. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Cameron County

All Texas utilities

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