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City of Obrien

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
87 people
Connections
72
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
O Brien, TX
County
Haskell
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

79539

The short answer

2 results are above EPA’s legal limit, and 2 more are above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 6 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, uranium, nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total): Texas’s own results, samples taken from March 10, 2020 to Aug. 25, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

102ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 46.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 102 ppb, in 2020, above EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 143 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 46.6 ppb. EPA recorded violations for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2020 and 2021. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 75.5 ppb, in 2016, and EPA recorded a violation in 2017.

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

Above the legal limit

65.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 35.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 65.8 ppb, in 2020, above EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 91 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 35.3 ppb. EPA recorded a violation for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility in 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 43.3 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.7 ppb, in 2025: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 3.8 ppb, in 2012.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024, one sample: 1.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.4 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2024, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 3.6 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

6.3ppm

Highest sample; found in 27 of 27

2026 average: 2.3 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 6.3 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 2.3 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 13.8 ppm, in 2013, and EPA recorded violations in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.38ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025, one sample: 0.28 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.38 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.28 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.77 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.6 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.8 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

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

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction; Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Uranium

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Arsenic, Uranium

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

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

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Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Lead and Copper Rule RevisionsThe required inventory of lead service lines was not completed or submitted on time.EPA: LSL InventoryOct. 17, 2024—Resolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2021 to March 31, 20210.09 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 20200.1 MG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 20200.066 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 20200.092 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2017 to March 31, 20170.089 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 14 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, uranium, nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total) results here are Texas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Obrien’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 10, 2020 to Aug. 25, 2026.

Testing your own tap

City of Obrien’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 2 labs Texas certifies closest to the area City of Obrien serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Abilene–Taylor County Public Health District

    Abilene, TX · about 56 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (325) 692-5600

  • Sweetwater -Nolan County Health Department

    Sweetwater, TX · about 68 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (325) 235-5463

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 TX1040005. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Haskell County

All Texas utilities

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