Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Is McAllen, TX tap water safe?

4 utilities serve McAllen, 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

2 of the 4 utilities serving McAllen have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Texas’s records: Sharyland WSC and City of Hidalgo Water System.

McAllen Public Utility, 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 51.8 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 McAllen’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

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

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

Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near McAllen

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

  • Texas Department of State Health Services South Texas Laboratory

    Harlingen, TX · about 31 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (956) 364-8746

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 McAllen

Which ZIP codes are in McAllen: 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 McAllen

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

What to do next