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Draper Estates Water System

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
123 people
Connections
41
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Palm Desert, TX
County
Travis
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

78645

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2010 to 2026.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate: Texas’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 26, 2020 to July 14, 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

77.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 65.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 77.1 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 172 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 65.6 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 93.8 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

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

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.39ppb

90th percentile, 2024 to 2026

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.39 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 limits2

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

34.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 34.4 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 56.3 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 38.4 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.29ppm

Highest sample; found in 18 of 27

2026: not found

The highest sample, in 2025, was 0.29 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its three samples.

What handles it

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

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, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), 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

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2022 to June 30, 20220.081 MG/LResolved
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. Draper Estates Water System’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 Feb. 26, 2020 to July 14, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Draper Estates Water System’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 Draper Estates Water System serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Integrity Testing, Inc.

    Austin, TX · about 13 miles

    Certified for lead and copper

    (512) 891-7777

  • Texas Department of State Health Services Laboratory Services Section

    Austin, TX · about 16 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (512) 458-7318

  • Aqua-Tech Laboratories, Inc.

    Austin, TX · about 24 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (512) 301-9559

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 TX2270058. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Travis County

All Texas utilities

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