Is Buffalo, TX tap water safe?
The short answer
2 of the 4 utilities serving Buffalo have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Texas’s records: Flo Community WSC and West Cedar Creek Water System.
Flo Community WSC, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 32.5 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. A health benchmark is a level EPA screens with, not a legal limit.
A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Buffalo’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Flo Community WSC
Texas · serves 5,256 people · under 100 in Buffalo
1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 32.5 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark.
1 health-based violation since 2016
- Open report
City of Buffalo
Texas · serves 1,767 people · under 100 in Buffalo
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 0.91 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
East Cedar Creek Water System
Texas · serves 50 people · under 100 in Buffalo
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
West Cedar Creek Water System
Texas · serves 26 people · under 100 in Buffalo
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
2 health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Buffalo
The 3 labs Texas certifies closest to Buffalo, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Chaparral Laboratories, Inc.
Huntsville, TX · about 54 miles
Certified for bacteria, lead and copper
Aqua-Tech Laboratories, Inc.
Bryan, TX · about 62 miles
Certified for bacteria, lead and copper
Analytical Environmental Labs
Tyler, TX · about 66 miles
Certified for bacteria
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 TexasZIP codes in Buffalo
Which ZIP codes are in Buffalo: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: TCEQ, drinking water laboratories approved for public water system samples; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.
Near Buffalo
Towns nearby with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Flo Community WSC’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- About LithiumWhat it does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Lithium
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water