Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Plantation on Cotton Bayou

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
1,557 people
Connections
519
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Austin, TX
County
Chambers
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

77523

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.5 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 1998. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Arsenic, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, chromium (total) and uranium: Texas’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 27, 2020 to Sept. 15, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 3.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.6 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, its one sample was 3.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 3.3 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”

Below EPA’s limits4

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

3.1ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 3.0 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.1 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 3.2 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its five samples averaged 3.0 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 3.3 ppm, in 2014.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

34.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 7.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 34.1 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 130 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 7.1 ppb. EPA recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 67.4 ppb, in 2015.

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

8.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 3.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 8.1 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 27.6 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 3.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 17 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.18ppm

Highest sample; found in 9 of 14

2026: not found

The highest sample, in 2023, was 0.18 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.11 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Lead
  • Uranium

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: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    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

Compare five-year costs

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, chromium (total) and uranium results here are Texas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Plantation on Cotton Bayou’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. 27, 2020 to Sept. 15, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Plantation on Cotton Bayou’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 Plantation on Cotton Bayou 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 24 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (713) 453-6060

  • City of Houston Health Department, Bureau of Laboratory Services

    Houston, TX · about 33 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (832) 393-3939

  • Water Utility Services, Inc.

    Spring, TX · about 41 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 TX0360096. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Chambers County

All Texas utilities

What to do next