Austin Water still serving up high-quality drinking water, report shows

Austin Water’s 2024 Water Quality Report, released Wednesday, shows that Austin’s drinking water meets or exceeds state and federal standards set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency. The water has little to no detectable traces of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and the city’s public water system is free of lead pipes, thanks to a “decades-long effort to inventory and eliminate any lead infrastructure discovered in the system,” according to a news release. The report also documents Austin Water’s practice of hourly water sampling and testing at multiple points in the system, preventive maintenance of crucial infrastructure and other initiatives. “We all can be proud of living in a city that banned lead pipes long before it was required and in an area with strong environmental protections in place to protect the source of our drinking water from PFAS,” said Shay Ralls Roalson, director of Austin Water.