Superior Safe Drinking Water Information

Public Utilities Division

Jun Chang, P.E., Deputy Director

Recent media stories have raised questions over the quality of the water you drink. The City of Houston takes these matters seriously. However, the issue raised is limited only to a small number of isolated groundwater wells that were built by Municipal Utility Districts which were inherited by the City through annexation.

Since 2002, gross alpha particles, which are naturally occurring in aquifers, have been detected in some groundwater wells that the City is replacing. Only six of seventy-eight wells had levels of gross alpha particles approaching regulatory standards and only one was in excess of the maximum contaminant levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That well is not being used now, nor does the City expect to need to use it in the future. The City will soon decommission the site entirely. The remaining five wells have been used intermittently and water from these wells is diluted by mixing it with surface water before it enters the water distribution system. Therefore, the levels of gross alpha particles in the water reaching the public are all within the federal and state limits for safe water.

Since 1985 the City has reduced the overall number of groundwater plants converting them to surface water and the overall use of groundwater as a source. This is in compliance with the Harris-Galveston County Subsidence District’s rules in order to provide quality drinking water and reduce subsidence.

Residents should rest assured that the City’s drinking water is among the safest in the country.

CLICK HERE for a printable version of the City of Houston Water Conversion chart.