General

Important Notice: Elevated Levels of Arsenic Detected in Harris County WCID 114’s Water Supply – No Immediate Risk

HARRIS COUNTY WCID 114
PWS ID NO. TX1010317
September 30, 2023

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has notified the HARRIS COUNTY WCID 114 TX1010317 that the drinking water being supplied to customers had exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for arsenic.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has established the MCL for arsenic to be 0.010 milligrams per liter (mg/L) based on running annual average (RAA), and has determined that it is a health concern at levels above the MCL.  Analysis of drinking water in your community for arsenic indicates a compliance value in quarter two 2023 of 0.013 mg/L for EP003 (Water Plant No.3).

This is not an emergency.  However, some people who drink water containing arsenic in excess of the MCL over many years could experience skin damage or problems with their circulatory system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.

You do not need to use an alternative water supply.  However, if you have health concerns, you may want to talk to your doctor to get more information about how this may affect you.

We are taking the following actions to address this issue:

  • The District’s water well from which the elevated levels of arsenic has been detected has not been used as part of the District’s water supply prior to or since the exceedance has occurred.

Please share this information with all people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (i.e., people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses).  You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

If you have questions regarding this matter, you may contact Eagle Water Management at 281-374-8989.

Directors Tour District’s Facilities

Each year at this time Harris County WCID 114’s (the District) directors tour the District’s fresh water and waste water facilities with the District’s engineer and operator. These facilities consist of 3 water plants (where the District’s water wells and ground storage tanks [GST] are located), which pump and store fresh water, and 5 gravity-fed lift stations, which collect and transport waste water to the Kleinwood Joint Powers Wastewater Treatment Plant located near Meyer Park (the District is one of the Plant’s six owners). Additionally, Water Plant No. 1 is where the District connects to the North Harris County Regional Water Authority’s (NHCRWA) system for the receipt and distribution of surface water, a process mandated by law in order to help reduce subsidence.

The purpose of the tour, which generally lasts three hours, is to view those capital improvements recommended by the engineer and operator, as well as to ask them to take corrective action for items noted during the tour. This year the directors asked that dead trees be removed, encroaching vegetation be trimmed back, accumulated debris be hauled away, cedar fences be replaced, and agreed that the replacement of the master control center at Water Plant No. 3 be accelerated from 2024 to 2023. It was particularly timely that the directors were able to enter the 285,000-gallon GST located at Water Plant No. 1 when it was empty and view the repairs being made to replace faulty sealant and panels, the culmination of two years of negotiations with the GST’s manufacturer (the accompanying photos show this work being done and the directors inside the GST– from left to right Steve Feldman, Renee Alfaro, James Sibley and Doug Malloy, director Robert Robertson is not pictured).