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Parkway UD

What EPA’s and Texas’s records show in this utility’s water: PFAS and lithium; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
7,323 people
Connections
2,441
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Houston, TX
County
Harris
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

77044

The short answer

3 results are above the health goal, and 1 more is above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium, above EPA’s health benchmark. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from March 28, 2023 to March 19, 2024.

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1999 to 2025.

Arsenic, uranium, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total): Texas’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 10, 2020 to July 17, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

PFAS: PFBS was found, of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule; its result is below. Three other PFAS with no federal limit were found, the highest PFBA at 7.6 ppt: see them below.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 4 ppt
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 4 ppt
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyBelow EPA’s limits3.1 ppt highest, found in 1 of 8 samples. Details
Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together1Doesn’t applyDoesn’t apply: no sampling location found two or more of the four
Results from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling. “Below” is the lab’s reporting level: a result under it reads as not found, which is not the same as zero. The limits are EPA’s 2024 rule, with compliance due from 2029; EPA has since proposed changes to some of them, explained on each compound’s page. PFBS has no limit of its own and counts only toward the Hazard Index, which adds up the four, each against EPA’s health-based level, from each sampling location’s average, as EPA’s UCMR 5 summary does. It counts only where two or more of the four were found, and is above the limit from 1.5.

Above the health goal3

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

7.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 7.0 ppb, in 2023: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2026, 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 2.7 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

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

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.1ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.1 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

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 ppb, in 2023: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

Above EPA’s health benchmark1

Lithium

Comes from the source

Above EPA’s health benchmark

19ppb

Highest sample, July 12, 2023; found in 4 of 8

The highest sample was 19 ppb, about twice EPA’s health reference level of 10 ppb. That is a screening level, not an enforceable limit.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Below EPA’s limits5

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

21.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 6.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 21.7 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 30.3 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 38.9 ppb, 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

Below EPA’s limits

15.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 4.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 15.2 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 34.3 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 4.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 38 ppb, in 2018, and EPA recorded a violation in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.97ppm

Highest sample; found in 12 of 14

2026 average: 0.43 ppm

The highest sample, in 2024, was 0.97 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.43 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.1 ppm, in 2016.

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

0.32ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.32 ppm, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2026, 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 0.32 ppm, in 2017.

What handles it

PFBS

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.1ppt

Highest sample, Dec. 19, 2023; found in 1 of 8

The highest sample was 3.1 ppt, below EPA’s hazard index benchmark of 2,000 ppt. PFBS has no legal limit or health goal of its own.

What handles it

Texas utilities above EPA’s PFAS limits

Also found, with no federal limit

EPA measured these PFAS to learn how often they occur. None has a legal limit or a health goal yet.

CompoundHighest sampleFound inCertification claim
PFBA7.6 ppt3 of 8None covers it
PFPeA6.7 ppt3 of 8None covers it
PFHxA6.0 ppt3 of 8None covers it
26 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.

From routine monitoring

  • Chromium (total)

PFAS and lithium, from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling

  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 4:2 FTS
  • 6:2 FTS
  • 8:2 FTS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • PFOS
  • PFPeS
  • PFTA
  • PFTrDA
  • PFUnA

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: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Arsenic, Lead

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

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

    For: Arsenic, Lead, Uranium

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

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 reverse osmosis systems, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Disinfectant

Parkway UD reported adding chloramine before water enters its pipes, at all 2 of its sampling points, in its 2023 to 2024 sampling for EPA.

Chloramine is chlorine combined with ammonia. It lasts longer in the pipes, and unlike chlorine, it doesn’t leave water that sits out. A filter’s chlorine claim doesn’t cover it: look for the separate chloramine claim under NSF/ANSI 42. No shower filter can carry one: NSF/ANSI 177, the shower filter standard, covers free chlorine only. Fish, turtles and frogs need it removed from their water. This is what the utility reported for that sampling. Its annual water quality report says what it uses now.

Chlorine vs. chloramineFilters with a chloramine claimShower filters, by what their listings cover

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2018 to June 30, 20180.062 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 2 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, uranium, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total) results here are Texas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Parkway UD’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 samples are from March 28, 2023 to March 19, 2024; Texas’s results run from Feb. 10, 2020 to July 17, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • A & B Environmental Services, Inc.

    Houston, TX · about 11 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (713) 453-6060

  • City of Houston Health Department, Bureau of Laboratory Services

    Houston, TX · about 19 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (832) 393-3939

  • Water Utility Services, Inc.

    Spring, TX · about 20 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (281) 290-0704

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 TX1010750. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Harris County

All Texas utilities

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