Travis County, Texas: drinking water report. Travis County – Austin and its fast-growing suburbs – serves about 1.3 million residents.
Travis County – Austin and its fast-growing suburbs – serves about 1.3 million residents. Austin Water draws primarily from the Colorado River (the Texas Colorado, not the one that feeds Lake Mead), with Lake Travis and Lake Austin serving as the main storage reservoirs. Some western and rural areas rely on groundwater from the Edwards and Trinity aquifers. Austin's explosive population growth has put increasing pressure on both water supply and infrastructure.
Austin Water has maintained a strong compliance record, and Lake Travis provides relatively clean source water compared to rivers that pass through heavy industrial or agricultural zones. UCMR5 data shows low-level PFAS detections in the Austin Water system, generally below levels that trigger federal action.
The bigger concern is infrastructure keeping pace with growth. According to Austin Water's 2024 annual report, the utility added over 10,000 new service connections in a single year, straining treatment capacity and distribution systems. Disinfection byproduct levels fluctuate seasonally as algae growth in the reservoirs increases organic content in source water during warm months.
Travis County benefits from a relatively clean source, but growth-related stress on the system is worth monitoring. New developments in particular may have recently installed infrastructure that hasn't been fully flushed and stabilized.
Check your water for current data in your area. An activated carbon filter handles taste, chlorine, and disinfection byproducts. For PFAS, reverse osmosis provides stronger removal. Our water filter guide helps you decide. Pull your detailed report, and see our Texas page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Travis County, TX.
The EPA places Travis 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.
26% of homes in Travis County, TX were built before 1980, and 4% 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 Travis County, TX averages 8.8 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