Is West tap water safe to drink?

City of West disinfects with chloramine, based on its treatment records filed with EPA. Chloramine is chlorine bonded with ammonia. It lasts longer in the pipes, which is why utilities use it, but it is much harder to remove at home than plain chlorine. Treatment records can lag changes, so confirm it in your utility's annual water quality report.

Drinking chloramine at the levels utilities use (EPA allows up to 4 mg/L) is considered safe. People remove it for practical reasons: some notice the taste, and unlike chlorine it does not fade from a jug left in the fridge. It harms fish, so aquarium water needs a conditioner that handles chloramine. Water for home dialysis machines must be treated first (drinking it is fine). It also wears out some rubber plumbing parts, such as toilet flappers, faster than chlorine.

Most cheap shower filters use KDF and standard carbon, which barely affect chloramine. Look for vitamin C or catalytic carbon media, and for drinking water, a filter that lists chloramine reduction specifically.

We have no published hardness figure for West. City of West's annual water quality report usually lists it in milligrams per liter or grains per gallon.

In City of West's most recent lead sampling, for the period ending December 2026, 90% of tested homes came in at or below 0 ppb of lead. That means at least 90% of sampled homes had no measurable lead.

This is a system-wide statistic, not a reading of your tap. Lead comes from lead service lines, old solder and some brass fixtures inside homes, so two houses on the same street can differ. Testing your own tap costs $15-40, and many utilities test free on request.

EPA's lead action level is 15 parts per billion (ppb) today and drops to 10 ppb in November 2027 under the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements. FDA's limit for bottled water is 5 ppb. EPA's health goal for lead is zero.

City of West does not appear in EPA's 2023-2025 nationwide PFAS sampling (UCMR 5), or its results are not posted yet.

In April 2024 EPA set enforceable limits of 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA and PFOS, and 10 ppt for PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA (GenX). In May 2025 EPA said it intends to keep the PFOA and PFOS limits, extend the compliance deadline to 2031, and rescind the other three. We compare results to the 2024 limits and label which ones may change.

EPA's records show 1 health-based violation for City of West since 2016: TTHM (1). The most recent began in January 2020.

A violation records a period when a standard or treatment requirement was missed. It is not a description of today's water, and many are resolved within the quarter. The utility's annual report explains each one.

West is in McLennan County, which EPA places in Radon Zone 3: the predicted average indoor level is below 2 pCi/L.

Zone describes a county average. Individual homes in every zone test high, so EPA recommends testing every home, especially basements and ground floors. Fix at 4 pCi/L or above.

EPA radon zones describe counties, not houses. Zone 1 counties have a predicted average indoor level above 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), Zone 2 between 2 and 4, Zone 3 below 2. Homes with high levels are found in every zone, which is why EPA recommends that every home be tested, and fixed at 4 pCi/L or above. See every Texas county's radon zone.

From 2021-2025, EPA monitors in McLennan County rated 52.3% of days good. The air was unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse on about 3.2 days a year, above the typical US county (2.4). The pollutant behind most days was fine particles (PM2.5), and the worst single reading was an AQI of 142 in 2025.

Wildfire smoke: NOAA satellites placed a medium or heavy smoke plume over McLennan County on about 18 days a year (33 in 2023, the worst year). That is below the typical US county.

EPA's Air Quality Index runs from 0 to 500. Up to 50 is good and 51-100 is moderate. Above 100 the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups (children, older adults, and people with asthma or heart or lung disease), and above 150 it is unhealthy for everyone. We count a county's bad days as days above 100, averaged over 2021-2025. Smoke days come from NOAA satellite analysts, who draw where smoke plumes are overhead each day. A plume overhead does not always reach the ground, so these days measure exposure risk, not what you breathed. We count only medium and heavy plumes.

Indoors, where you spend most of your time

No agency measures indoor air city by city, so nobody can tell you your home's numbers except a monitor in your home. What research does show: Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors (EPA's National Human Activity Pattern Survey, 2001), EPA studies in the 1980s often found indoor levels of some chemical vapors two to five times outdoor levels, and during wildfire smoke the particles get inside unless windows stay shut and a filter runs.

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Indoor air quality monitor

Start by measuring: particles, CO2 and humidity in your own rooms.

Shows particles (PM2.5), CO2, humidity and chemical vapors (VOCs) room by room, so you know when to ventilate or run a purifier. Consumer monitors are indicators, not lab instruments.

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HEPA air purifier

For allergies, pets, or the occasional smoke day.

A true HEPA purifier sized to the room removes fine particles such as smoke, dust and pollen. Check the CADR rating and skip anything that makes ozone.

Levoit Core 300 (bedroom-size HEPA)

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Winix 5520 (large-room HEPA)

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Furnace filter (MERV 11 to 13)

Central air? A better filter cleans the whole house every time the system runs.

If you have central heat or air, a pleated MERV 11 or MERV 13 filter catches fine particles such as smoke, dust and pollen from the whole house whenever the fan runs. EPA suggests MERV 13 or the highest your system can take: check your manual and match the exact filter size.

Filters Fast MERV 13 pleated furnace filter (1-inch, 6-pack)

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Filters Fast MERV 11 pleated furnace filter (1-inch, 6-pack)

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CO2 monitor

Stuffy bedroom or home office? CO2 tells you when to open a window.

CO2 is the best quick check on whether a room gets enough fresh air. Look for an NDIR sensor; cheap 'eCO2' sensors estimate it from VOCs instead of measuring it.

Aranet4 Home CO2 monitor (NDIR)

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Get free mold and indoor air testing quotes

Air quality, smoke days and mold testing rules for every Texas county. Sources: EPA AirData annual AQI by county, 2021-2025; NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke polygons, 2021-2025.