Brazos County, Texas: drinking water report. Brazos County in east-central Texas is home to College Station, Bryan, and Texas A&M University, with a…
Brazos County in east-central Texas is home to College Station, Bryan, and Texas A&M University, with a population of about 233,000. The county draws water from Lake Stillhouse Hollow and the Brazos River, with the City of Bryan and City of College Station operating separate water systems. The Brazos River carries agricultural runoff from hundreds of miles of upstream farmland and ranching operations before it reaches the county's intake points.
Atrazine, one of the most common agricultural herbicides in the United States, shows up regularly in Brazos River monitoring data. According to the USGS National Water Quality Assessment, atrazine concentrations in the Brazos River watershed periodically approach the EPA's MCL of 3 ppb during spring planting season when application rates peak. Treatment removes most of it, but levels fluctuate with rainfall and upstream application timing.
The EPA's UCMR5 data shows low-level PFAS detections in both the Bryan and College Station systems. Easterwood Airport, which serves the region, has used AFFF foam, contributing to localized PFAS contamination. A 2024 TCEQ compliance summary noted that disinfection byproduct levels in both systems increased during the unusually hot summer of 2023, with total trihalomethanes reaching 68 ppb against a limit of 80 ppb.
Spring and early summer are the highest-risk periods for agricultural contaminant spikes in Brazos County. If your water tastes or smells different after heavy rains, that is the treatment plant adjusting to a higher contaminant load in the source water.
Check your water for current results in your area. A carbon block filter handles atrazine and disinfection byproducts. For PFAS, upgrade to reverse osmosis. Our water filter guide explains which certifications to look for. Get your detailed report for seasonal data, and visit our Texas page for statewide context.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Brazos County, TX.
The EPA places Brazos County, TX in Zone 3 - the EPA's lowest-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level below 2 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
25% of homes in Brazos County, TX were built before 1980, and 3% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Brazos County, TX averages 8.5 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide