Drinking water quality · 2024
· Verified
What's in Abilene, TX tap water
4 contaminants in Abilene, TX's water sat at or above a federal limit, led by PFOS at 6.4x the limit.
- !4 contaminants at or above a federal limit — worst is PFOS at 6.4x
- !2 contaminants within 20% of a limit
- !17 of 27 core regulated contaminants reported — 10 never appear in this report
- ✓No open federal violations
+How this score is calculated
Every system starts at 100. Points come off for measured levels, for the federal violation record, and for how much of the core regulated set the utility actually reported. All three inputs are the utility's own published numbers and EPA's own records.
- −60 contaminants at or above a federal limit
- −8 contaminants within 20% of a limit
- −0 open health-based violations
- −0 open monitoring / reporting violations
- −0 health-based violations resolved in the last 5 years
- −3 core regulated contaminants never reported (17/27)
A 90–100 · B 80–89 · C 70–79 · D 60–69 · F below 60. A system reporting under a third of the core set is capped at C however clean its numbers look — a short report is not a clean bill of health.
Full grading methodology, constant for constant →What to worry about
- PFOS6.4× the federal limit25.6 ng/L · limit 4 ng/L
Linked to cancer, thyroid disease, and immune effects; the EPA set an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion.
higher than 90% of U.S. systems
- Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid2.0× the federal limit20.2 ng/L · limit 10 ng/L
Regulated by the EPA at 10 parts per trillion and included in the PFAS Hazard Index.
higher than 90% of U.S. systems
- PFOA1.8× the federal limit7.14 ng/L · limit 4 ng/L
Linked to cancer, liver damage, and immune effects; the EPA set an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion.
higher than 80% of U.S. systems
- Cyanide1.0× the federal limit206 ug/L · limit 200 ug/L
- Chloramine98% of the federal limit3.9 mg/L · limit 4 mg/L
Holds disinfection further into the pipe network, but is regulated under the same residual-disinfectant cap as chlorine.
higher than 85% of U.S. systems
- Chlorite92% of the federal limit0.92 mg/L · limit 1 mg/L
higher than 90% of U.S. systems
+27 contaminants were measured and came in below the limitShow all
| Contaminant | Measured | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 15.9–60 ug/L | 80 ug/L |
| HAA5 | 24.9 ug/L | 60 ug/L |
| Turbidity | 0.31 NTU | 1 NTU |
| Fluoride | 0.822–0.841 mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| Copper | 0.249 mg/L | 1.3 mg/L |
| Arsenic | 0–1.1 ug/L | 10 ug/L |
| Barium | 0.18 mg/L | 2 mg/L |
| Nitrate | 0.247 mg/L | 10 mg/L |
| Uranium | 0.29 ug/L | 30 ug/L |
| Bromodichloromethane | 2.9 ug/L | — |
| Bromoform | 17.4 ug/L | — |
| Chloroform | 0–2.87 ug/L | — |
| Dibromochloromethane | 8 ug/L | — |
| Asbestos | Not detected | 7 |
| Lead | 0 ug/L | 15 ug/L |
| Lithium | 28.9 mg/L | — |
| Selenium | Not detected ug/L | 50 ug/L |
| Total Coliform | 1.7 % | — |
| Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid | 6.88 ng/L | — |
| Perfluoroheptanoic acid | 96 ng/L | — |
| Perfluorohexanoic acid | 21.4 ng/L | — |
| Perfluoropentanoic acid | 16.400000000000002 ng/L | — |
| PFBA | 16.9 ng/L | — |
| TOC | 6.8 mg/L | — |
| Combined Radium | Not detected pCi/L | 5 pCi/L |
| Gross Alpha | Not detected pCi/L | 15 pCi/L |
| Gross Beta Particle Activity | 10.7 | 0 |
What this report doesn't tell you
10 of the 27 contaminants a community water system normally reports do not appear anywhere in Abilene, TX's data. Absent is not the same as absent-from-the-water — it means nobody published a number.