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City of Richland Springs

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
325 people
Connections
198
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Richland Springs, TX
County
San Saba
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

76871

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Uranium, above the health goal. 4 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Uranium, nitrate, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and chromium (total): Texas’s own results, samples taken from May 20, 2020 to July 22, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.6 ppb, in 2024: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.4 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits4

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.0ppm

Highest sample; found in 7 of 7

2026, one sample: 1.3 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 2.0 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.3 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.9 ppm, in 2019.

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

0.64ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.64 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.78 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

12.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025, one sample: 4.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 12.6 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 4.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 6.3 ppb, in 2019.

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

3.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025, one sample: 1.0 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.2 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.0 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.5 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • 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.”

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

None of the filters TapBuff has checked so far carry these claims. Search the certifier listings for the claim above.

Compare five-year costs

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Lead and Copper RuleA required study or plan for corrosion control was not done on time.EPA: OCCT/SOWT Study/RecommendationNov. 1, 2017—Resolved
Lead and Copper RuleA required study or plan for corrosion control was not done on time.EPA: OCCT/SOWT Study/RecommendationApril 1, 2017—Resolved
Lead and Copper RuleA required study or plan for corrosion control was not done on time.EPA: OCCT/SOWT Study/RecommendationMarch 31, 2017—Resolved
Lead and Copper RuleRequired information about lead was not given to customers.EPA: Public EducationDec. 1, 2016—Resolved
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. Uranium, nitrate, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and chromium (total) results here are Texas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Richland Springs’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 May 20, 2020 to July 22, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Environmental Monitoring Lab

    Llano, TX · about 45 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (325) 247-3295

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 TX2060002. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.