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Is Houston, TX tap water safe?

15 utilities serve Houston, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Texas’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

3 of the 15 utilities serving Houston have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Texas’s records: City of Houston, Memorial Villages Water Authority and Harris County MUD 119.

City of Houston, which serves the most people here, has 3 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 33.9 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

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 Houston’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

5 more utilities in Houston

By EPA’s estimate, each serves fewer people in Houston than those above.

MUD stands for municipal utility district, a local water and sewer district common in Texas.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in City of Houston’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Houston

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Texas certifies.

The 3 labs Texas certifies closest to Houston, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • City of Houston Health Department, Bureau of Laboratory Services

    Houston, TX · about 4 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (832) 393-3939

  • A & B Environmental Services, Inc.

    Houston, TX · about 9 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (713) 453-6060

  • Eurofins EMLab P&K – Houston

    Houston, TX · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (281) 940-2580

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

ZIP codes in Houston

Which ZIP codes are in Houston: 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 Houston

Other towns in Harris County with a page of their own.

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