Loading water data...
Comprehensive Consumer Confidence Report for Houston, Texas
Water meets EPA safety standards
View detailed city report →Contaminant levels compared to EPA maximum limits
Just 27% of the EPA action level. Houston's source water is essentially lead-free — any lead typically leaches from old household plumbing or service lines, not the treated supply.
Disinfection byproduct. Houston disinfects with chloramine (chlorine + ammonia) instead of free chlorine, which keeps TTHM formation lower in the distribution system.
Chlorination byproduct reported within the EPA limit in recent Consumer Confidence Reports.
Houston uses monochloramine to keep water safe through miles of pipes. It can add a faint taste/odor and requires a carbon or RO filter (not just boiling or standing) to remove.
Houston has shifted increasingly to surface water from regional lakes and rivers — partly to slow the land subsidence caused by decades of heavy groundwater pumping. Surface water is fully treated before distribution.
Because the supply is drawn from open reservoirs and rivers, it requires robust filtration and disinfection to control organics, sediment and microbes — reflected in Houston's A- (89/100) score with all tested contaminants below EPA limits.
Houston's purification plants use conventional treatment — coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and filtration — to remove particles, sediment and turbidity from lake and river source water.
Houston disinfects with chloramine (chlorine combined with ammonia) to kill bacteria and viruses while producing fewer disinfection byproducts than free chlorine across a large distribution system.
pH is adjusted and a corrosion inhibitor added to reduce the water's ability to leach lead and copper from older household plumbing and service lines.
Fluoride is added at a low, regulated level for dental-health protection, consistent with federal public-health guidance.
No Health-Based Violations
Houston has recorded no health-based (MCL) drinking-water violations. A few past monitoring/reporting issues appear in the EPA record and have all been resolved, and every tested contaminant is currently well below its EPA limit.
View the complete Consumer Confidence Report on the Houston Public Works website:
houstontx.gov/publicworks →Call Houston 311 (dial 311 in the city, or 713-837-0311) to request a printed copy of the annual water quality report or ask a water-quality question.
Houston Public Works (Houston Water) publishes a new CCR each year summarizing every contaminant tested, its level, and the applicable EPA limit — the same data this report is built from.
Yes. Houston tap water meets federal and Texas drinking-water standards and scores A- (89/100), with all tested contaminants well below EPA limits and no health-based (MCL) violations. Houston Public Works treats and tests the supply continuously. Some residents still add a filter for taste or extra lead protection in older homes.
Houston is mainly a surface-water system. Most water comes from Lake Houston and Lake Conroe (San Jacinto River) and Lake Livingston (Trinity River), treated at the East, Southeast and Northeast Water Purification Plants, with groundwater wells drawing on the Evangeline and Chicot aquifers as a supplement.
The most common detections are disinfection byproducts (TTHMs and HAA5) — kept lower by Houston's use of chloramine — and trace lead, measured at just 4 ppb (27% of the EPA action level), which typically comes from old home plumbing rather than the treated supply. All levels are within EPA safety standards.
It's optional. Houston water is safe as delivered, but a filter can improve taste and add lead protection in older homes. Because Houston disinfects with chloramine (which a standard pitcher can't fully remove), choose a filter certified for both lead and chloramine. A APEC reverse-osmosis system removes both lead and chloramine; for a budget, renter-friendly option the ZeroWater pitcher is NSF/ANSI 53 certified for lead with no installation.
Houston Public Works publishes an annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) online at houstontx.gov/publicworks. You can also request a copy or ask a water-quality question by calling Houston 311 (713-837-0311).