2 countries, 7 states, and 27 million people get their water from the Colorado River. It also irrigates over 3 million acres of farmland. That's way too much! Fortunately, global climate models predict that this will decrease by up to 30% in the next few decades.
City Water
Austin Water Quality Analysis
7 min read
- 01 | Who Regulates Austin’s Water Supply?
- 02 | Austin Water’s Annual Water Quality Report
- 03 | Awards and Recognition for Austin’s Water
- 04 | Environmental Working Group’s Water Quality Report
- 05 | Where Does Austin Get Its Water?
- 06 | Treating Austin’s Drinking Water
- 07 | Testing and Monitoring Water Quality
- 08 | Contaminants Threatening Austin’s Water Supply
- 09 | About Austin’s (Occasionally) Stinky Water
- 10 | Why Does Austin Have So Many Boil Water Notices?
- 11 | Keeping Lead Out of Austin’s Tap Water
- 12 | Upgrading Austin’s Aging Water Lines
- 13 | Should Austinites Use In-Home Water Filters?
Austin is rated one of the best cities in America for water quality.
Heck, their water has even won prestigious awards, but more on that in a sec...
With that said, every city has its challenges and Austin is no exception.
Here’s the good, the bad and the thirsty of Austin’s tap water:
Several organizations oversee Austin’s water quality, including:
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates 120 different contaminants in public water systems.
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates contaminants in bottled water.
- The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) monitors the city’s source water in Lake Austin and Lake Travis.
- Austin Water is the local organization in charge of treating, monitoring and testing the city’s water.
Here’s what Austin Water found in their latest water quality report:
Each year, Austin Water’s Water Quality Laboratory and the Texas Department of Health publish their annual water quality report.
The study analyzes thousands of samples from source to tap.
In their most recent report, the city passed with flying colors.
They met all national and state standards and violated zero of the EPA’s regulated contaminants.
As it turns out, this isn’t the first time…
Austin Water sure does like showing off!
Here’s a quick rundown of their awards and recognition:
- President’s Award from the American Water Works Association awarded Austin for exceptional water treatment plants.
- The Environmental Protection Agency recognized Austin as an industry leader in effective utility management.
- Forbes Magazine named Austin the second best city in America for clean drinking water.
- The Active Times recognized Austin for “Cities with the Best and Safest Drinking Water.”
But despite all the accolades, there’s still room for improvement…
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit organization that publishes reports on water quality and consumer food products.
Overall, the EWG’s health standards are a lot stricter than the federal government’s.
The report pulls data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as well as the United States EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Database (ECHO).
In their latest report, they found 10 cancer-causing contaminants above healthy limits, including:
- Bromochloroacetic acid: 248x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
- Bromodichloromethane: 243x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
- Chloroform: 50x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
- Hexavalent chromium: 8.7x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
- Dibromoacetic acid: 49x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
- Dibromochloromethane: 85x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
- Dichloroacetic acid: 55x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
- Haloacetic acids: 186x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
- Total trihalomethanes: 295x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
- Trichloroacetic acid: 53x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
Although these compounds aren’t regulated by the EPA, early laboratory tests show that they can have negative effects on living organisms.
So which report should you listen to?
Is Austin’s water the creme-de-la-agua or does it contain dangerous contaminants?
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which guidelines to follow.
Luckily, installing an in-home water filter can remove up to 99.9% of harmful pollutants, but more on that in a sec…
For now, let’s take a closer look at where Austin gets its water:
Austin Water provides clean drinking water to 1.1 million residents.
The city gets its water from the Colorado River as it flows through Lake Travis and Lake Austin.
It’s then pumped to several water treatment plants where it’s filtered and treated.
Keep reading to learn more about Austin’s treatment process...
The City of Austin has three treatment plants that turn raw source water into safe drinking water:
- Berl L. Handcox Sr. Water Treatment Plant (serves northwest and far north Austin)
- Albert R. Davis Water Treatment Plant (serves west, central and north Austin)
- Albert H. Ullrich Water Treatment Plant (serves south, east and central downtown Austin)
The water is pumped in from local lakes and undergoes several treatment steps, including:
- Screening to remove large debris
- Disinfection to kill bacteria, viruses and parasites
- Coagulation-flocculation to gather suspended solids
- Sedimentation to remove suspended solids
- Filtration through sand and gravel for natural polishing
The entire process takes about 6 to 10 hours to complete.
Once the water is ready to leave the plant, it flows through distribution pipes to homes across Austin.
Several times a day, every day, Austin Water tests your drinking water.
They continuously monitor the city’s pump stations, pipes, meters and treatment plants.
At the end of each year, they assess the city’s water infrastructure and make upgrades.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is in charge of monitoring local rivers and lakes to keep an eye out for new contamination threats.
Austin’s source water travels through groundwater, springs, streams, rivers and lakes before reaching the city’s treatment plants.
Along the way, it can pick up minerals, heavy metals, radioactive material, and pollutants from animals and human activity.
Contaminants to watchout for include:
- Pesticides and herbicides from stormwater runoff, agriculture and residential uses
- Radioactive materials from rocks and soil or mining and oil and gas production
- Organic chemicals from petroleum production, gas stations, septic systems, stormwater runoff and industrial processes
- Inorganic contaminants from wastewater, mining, farming, stormwater runoff, or oil and gas production
- Microbial contaminants, like viruses, bacteria and parasites from septic systems, sewage treatment plants, wildlife and livestock
Out of all these contaminants, the parasite Cryptosporidium is at the top of the list.
Because of this, Austin Water watches it like a hawk.
Out of 10 total samples collected in 2020, only one came back positive for Cryptosporidium.
NOTE: Some people are more vulnerable to negative health effects than others, especially the elderly, pregnant women, infants, young children, chemotherapy patients and people with immune system disorders.
If this is you or someone you love, ask your doctor for advice about drinking water safety.
Chances are, they’ll recommend installing an NSF-certified water filter in your home.
Protect your pooch! Dog deaths have been linked to toxic cyanobacteria in Austin's Lady Bird Lake. The bacterial blooms are mainly concentrated near Red Bud Isle and Auditorium Shores.
Zebra mussels stink!
Starting in 2017, zebra mussels infested Lake Austin, Lake Travis and Ladybird Lake.
The invasive species latches onto rocks, boats and pipes, and has caused major infrastructure problems in more than a dozen Texas waterways.
Before long, these pesky little buggers made their way into the city’s raw water pipelines.
During pipe repair projects in 2019, many of them died and released gross-smelling compounds.
While smelly, the water is still safe to drink.
Austin Water flushed out the water until the smell disappeared, but stinky zebra mussels are still an ongoing risk.
To keep it under control, Austin Water added activated carbon to absorb the odor, but that’s not all…
In the fall of 2020, the city took more aggressive steps to deter future infestations, including:
- Routine cleaning of zebra mussel shells on screens and other infrastructure
- Scuba divers to inspect and clean underwater infrastructure
- Rovers with cameras to inspect pipelines where divers can’t reach
- Enhanced protocols to evaluate taste and odor
- Copper sulfate to deter infestation in water pipes
Compared to other US cities, Austin issues a lot of boil water notices.
This happens when floods cause power outages and contaminate the water with high levels of bacteria and parasites.
It can take several days or even weeks to get the contamination under control.
In October 2018, historic floods led to a boil water notice that lasted six days.
It happened again in February 2021, when another flood caused Austin’s largest treatment facility to lose power.
Ultimately, boil water notices can be quite the fiasco…
Local businesses struggle to stay open, while residents hoard bottled water and resell it at high prices.
It’s wise to always store a few days worth of drinkable water just in case.
Austin has extremely low levels of lead compared to the rest of the nation.
With that said, it’s still a cause for concern.
Lead can cause serious health problems, like:
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Birth defects
- Learning and behavioral disorders in children
Fortunately, tests show no signs of lead in Austin’s water sources.
With that said, it’s still possible for lead to enter through corroded water service lines and household plumbing.
In 1986, the federal government outlawed lead plumbing components, but many Austin homes still contain lead pipes.
Aside from replacing lead pipes, here’s a few tips to reduce lead exposure:
- Install an in-home water filter
- Flush your pipes for two to three minutes before using your water
- Use only cold water for drinking and cooking
- Clean your home’s faucets and aerators
Austin Water is also hard at work to reduce exposure from lead service lines, including
- Providing residents with free filter pitchers, flushing instructions and free water testing
- A process called lime softening that forms a protective scale on the inside of pipes
- Expanded lead testing beyond what the EPA requires
- Proactive steps to identify and replace lead piping
Next, let’s take a closer look at the city’s infrastructure upgrades:
Aging water infrastructure is a major problem in most US cities, and Austin is no exception.
Renewing Austin is a two-phase program to upgrade the city’s aging water lines: The Highland Park Water Improvement Project and the West Allandale Water Improvement Project.
What do they have in store?
- Acoustic technology to inspect more than 1,500 miles of water lines for leaks
- Upgrade old pump stations
- Retire and replace at least one outdated reservoir
- Replace thousands of feet of distribution pipes
The West Allandale Project alone will replace about 7,900 feet of water lines.
You can probably guess the answer, but yes, Austinites should consider an in-home water filter.
A high-quality filtration system is the best way to ensure safe, delicious drinking water for you and your family.
Filters come in many shapes, sizes, and levels of effectiveness.
Some are great for improving smell and taste, while others are great for killing bacteria, and a few can remove up to 99.9% of all contaminants.
Reverse osmosis (RO) systems are the best of the best...
They combine sediment filters, activated carbon filters, ion exchange resins, RO membranes and polishing filters to remove lead, arsenic, PFAS, bacteria and all other dangerous compounds.
Cloud Water Filters even use built-in software to monitor your water quality 24/7.
Bottoms up!
Click here to learn more.
