Nueces County, Texas: drinking water report. Nueces County – Corpus Christi – serves about 360,000 residents on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Nueces County – Corpus Christi – serves about 360,000 residents on the Texas Gulf Coast. The City of Corpus Christi draws from Lake Corpus Christi, Choke Canyon Reservoir, and the Colorado River (via a 101-mile pipeline completed in 2020 to diversify supply after drought nearly emptied the local reservoirs). The city's water infrastructure has been tested by both drought and hurricanes.
Corpus Christi's water quality challenges have been well-publicized. In 2016, a chemical release into the city's industrial canal caused a city-wide do-not-use advisory that lasted days. The incident highlighted the vulnerability of the city's intake system to contamination from nearby industrial facilities and the Port of Corpus Christi.
UCMR5 data shows low-level PFAS detections in the Corpus Christi system. Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is a potential PFAS source. According to the TCEQ's 2024 compliance data, the city met federal standards, but the 2016 incident and subsequent infrastructure investments remain a defining story in the county's water quality history.
Corpus Christi's diversified supply system is more resilient than before the Colorado River pipeline was completed, but industrial proximity remains a risk factor.
Check your water for current data in your area. A reverse osmosis system provides broad protection against industrial and PFAS contamination. Our water filter guide covers options. Pull your detailed report, and visit our Texas page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Nueces County, TX.
The EPA places Nueces 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.
49% of homes in Nueces County, TX were built before 1980, and 9% 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 Nueces County, TX averages 9.1 µg/m³, above 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