PFAS in Texas drinking water
611 drinking-water utilities in Texas reported PFAS detections at or above the EPA minimum reporting level under UCMR 5 (the federal monitoring round that ran 2023–2025). Of those, 98 exceeded the final EPA Maximum Contaminant Level for PFOA or PFOS (4 parts per trillion), serving roughly 7,823,673 people.
By the numbers
- 611 Texas water utilities with at least one PFAS compound detected
- 22,606,890 people served by those utilities
- 98 utilities above the final 4 ppt MCL for PFOA or PFOS
- 35 federal and Department of Defense sites with reported PFAS in groundwater
The interactive map below plots every reporting Texas utility, colour-coded by whether their worst reading exceeds the federal MCL, sits below it but at or above the reporting threshold, or falls below the reporting threshold. Use the search box to find a specific utility, ZIP code or address.
Top Texas water utilities by PFAS impact
The 15 Texas public water systems with the most significant PFAS detections under UCMR 5, ranked by how far each system’s worst MCL-exceeding compound runs over the federal limit:
| # | Utility | Population served | Headline ng/L | Compound | vs MCL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Town of Anthony | 5,423 | 33.1 | PFOS | 8.3× final MCL |
| 2 | City of Boerne | 22,287 | 26.3 | PFOS | 6.6× final MCL |
| 3 | City of Abilene | 123,886 | 25.6 | PFOS | 6.4× final MCL |
| 4 | Hawley WSC | 7,830 | 23.7 | PFOS | 5.9× final MCL |
| 5 | Potosi WSC | 7,509 | 20.4 | PFOS | 5.1× final MCL |
| 6 | City of Tye | 1,333 | 20.4 | PFOS | 5.1× final MCL |
| 7 | Dyess Air Force Base | 7,524 | 18.9 | PFOS | 4.7× final MCL |
| 8 | City of Pflugerville | 45,785 | 14.4 | PFOS | 3.6× final MCL |
| 9 | 439 WSC | 7,503 | 13.7 | PFOS | 3.4× final MCL |
| 10 | City of Dublin | 3,586 | 9.8 | PFOS | 2.5× final MCL |
| 11 | Spencer Road PUD | 4,482 | 9.7 | PFOS | 2.4× final MCL |
| 12 | Manville WSC | 39,648 | 9.6 | PFOS | 2.4× final MCL |
| 13 | City of Terrell | 18,897 | 8.9 | PFOS | 2.2× final MCL |
| 14 | El Paso Water Utilities Public Service B | 747,168 | 8.5 | PFOS | 2.1× final MCL |
| 15 | City of Clyde | 3,811 | 8.0 | PFOS | 2.0× final MCL |
Use the interactive map above to find every utility (not just the top 15) and to search by ZIP code or address.
The biggest Texas systems above the PFOA/PFOS MCL
Ranked by population served, the largest Texas water utilities reporting at least one PFAS reading above EPA’s final MCL:
| # | Utility | Population served | Worst compound | Reading | vs MCL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas Water Utility | 1,321,740 | PFOS | 4.4 ng/L | 1.1× MCL |
| 2 | City of Austin Water & Wastewater | 1,044,405 | PFOS | 4.8 ng/L | 1.2× MCL |
| 3 | City of Fort Worth | 853,762 | PFOS | 7.0 ng/L | 1.8× MCL |
| 4 | El Paso Water Utilities Public Service B | 747,168 | PFOS | 8.5 ng/L | 2.1× MCL |
| 5 | City of Arlington | 405,420 | PFOS | 4.6 ng/L | 1.1× MCL |
| 6 | City of Irving | 240,420 | PFOA | 4.9 ng/L | 1.2× MCL |
| 7 | City of Grand Prairie | 187,050 | PFOA | 4.9 ng/L | 1.2× MCL |
| 8 | Brownsville Public Utilities Board | 176,362 | PFOS | 8.0 ng/L | 2.0× MCL |
| 9 | City of Pasadena | 153,000 | PFOS | 4.1 ng/L | 1.0× MCL |
| 10 | City of Midland Water Purification Plant | 142,344 | PFOS | 4.5 ng/L | 1.1× MCL |
PFAS compounds detected in Texas
UCMR 5 required utilities to test for 29 different PFAS compounds. The table below shows how many Texas utilities had at least one above-reporting-level result for each compound, sorted by frequency:
| Compound | Texas utilities | Share of detecting utilities | EPA MCL |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFBA | 540 | 88% | None |
| PFPeA | 418 | 68% | None |
| PFHxA | 363 | 59% | None |
| PFBS | 278 | 45% | None |
| PFHxS | 149 | 24% | 10 ppt (April 2024, under reconsideration) |
| PFOS | 98 | 16% | 4 ppt (final) |
| 6:2 FTS | 53 | 9% | None |
| PFOA | 40 | 7% | 4 ppt (final) |
| PFHpA | 39 | 6% | None |
| NFDHA | 4 | 1% | None |
| PFPeS | 3 | 0% | None |
| PFNA | 3 | 0% | 10 ppt (April 2024, under reconsideration) |
Where Texas’s PFAS contamination is coming from
EPA’s PFAS Analytic Tools also catalogue the suspected industrial, federal and accidental sources of PFAS in each state. Texas has 35 federal facilities (mostly U.S. military installations and federal airports) reporting PFAS in groundwater, 5 EPA Superfund sites flagged for PFAS, and 103 recorded PFAS-related spills (72 of which reached surface water).
Federal and DoD sites with the highest PFAS in groundwater
The U.S. Department of Defense has reported PFAS contamination at hundreds of installations nationwide, largely tied to decades of fire-training exercises with PFAS-based firefighting foams (AFFF). These readings are taken from monitoring wells at the source site, not from drinking-water taps, but plumes from these sites are a known route into nearby public and private water supplies. Readings are in parts per trillion (ppt) of PFOS and PFOA respectively:
| Site | Agency | Max PFOS (groundwater) | Max PFOA (groundwater) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas NAS | Navy | 1,200,000 ppt | 124,331 ppt |
| Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland, Randolph, Ft Sam Houston, Camp Bullis | Air Force | 935,000 ppt | 130,000 ppt |
| Sheppard AFB | Air Force | 550,000 ppt | 140,000 ppt |
| Dyess AFB | Air Force | 171,000 ppt | 384,000 ppt |
| Corpus Christi Tx NAS | Navy | 155,000 ppt | 358,000 ppt |
Superfund sites flagged for PFAS in Texas
EPA’s Superfund program has identified the following Texas sites with confirmed PFAS detections:
- Air Force Plant #4 (General Dynamics), Fort Worth, Tarrant County. NPL status: Final. EPA site report
- Lane Plating Works, Inc, Dallas, Dallas County. NPL status: Final. EPA site report
- Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, Texarkana, Bowie County. NPL status: Final. EPA site report
- Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant, Karnack, Harrison County. NPL status: Final. EPA site report
- Pantex Plant (USDOE), Pantex Village, Carson County. NPL status: Final. EPA site report
Recent PFAS-related spills in Texas
- 2026: 1,000 gallons of mineral oil released in Lancaster (Dallas County) by Oncor Electric Delivery.
- 2026: 50 gallons of PFAS-containing firefighting foam released in Port Arthur (Jefferson County) by Total Energies. Reached water.
- 2026: Mineral oil released in Dallas (Dallas County) by Encore.
- 2026: 50 gallons of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) released in Lancaster (Dallas County) by Oncor Electric Delivery.
- 2025: 1,100 gallons of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) released in Dallas (Dallas County) by Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. Reached water.
What “exceeds the MCL” means here
In April 2024 the EPA finalised the first-ever federal Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for six PFAS compounds in drinking water. The two most consequential are PFOA and PFOS, both set at 4.0 nanograms per litre (ng/L) — equivalent to 4 parts per trillion. Every red marker on the map above represents a Texas water system whose most-recent UCMR 5 result for PFOA or PFOS sat above 4 ng/L.
EPA also issued individual MCLs of 10 ng/L for PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA (GenX) and a Hazard-Index MCL covering mixtures. In May 2025 the agency confirmed the PFOA and PFOS limits would stay in place (with the compliance deadline extended to 2031), and announced its intent to rescind the four other limits. We continue to flag exceedances of the published April 2024 MCL for those compounds and label them as “under EPA reconsideration” so the rule status is honest and current.
Yellow markers mean PFAS were detected at or above EPA’s reporting threshold (the minimum reporting level) but no individual compound exceeded an MCL. Detection at any level is not necessarily a regulatory violation, but it is a signal that PFAS treatment may be needed before the 2031 compliance deadline.
Methodology and data sources
- Drinking-water detections: EPA PFAS Analytic Tools, UCMR 5 layer. Filtered to Texas samples at or above the minimum reporting level. We aggregate the raw 2023–2025 sample records to one entry per public water system, taking the most-recent reading per compound.
- Superfund sites: EPA PFAS Analytic Tools, Superfund-with-PFAS layer. Includes National Priorities List sites and Superfund Alternative Approach sites where PFAS has been detected.
- Federal and DoD sites: EPA PFAS Analytic Tools, federal-sites layer. PFOA and PFOS values are maximum readings from groundwater monitoring wells at each installation, not finished drinking water.
- Spills: EPA PFAS Analytic Tools, spills layer. Covers reported releases involving PFAS-containing materials.
UCMR 5 only required community water systems serving 3,300 or more people, plus a representative sample of smaller systems, to test for PFAS. Private wells, very small public systems, and bottled water are not in this dataset. Absence of a dot on the map does not mean absence of PFAS.
What you can do
- Check whether your utility appears in the table above or on the map. If it does, your utility is required to come into compliance with the federal PFOA/PFOS MCL by 2031 — usually via granular activated carbon, ion-exchange resin or reverse osmosis treatment.
- If you are on a private well in or near a flagged area, consider independent PFAS testing through a state-certified laboratory.
- Look up your most recent Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), which utilities are required to publish annually. PFAS results from UCMR 5 must now appear there.
- If you want point-of-use protection, only filters certified to NSF/ANSI 53 or NSF/ANSI 58 for PFOA and PFOS reduction will reliably remove PFAS.
