Community Water System · PWSID TX1010617

Trail of the Lakes Mud

Serves 9,471 peopleGroundwaterOwner: Local GovernmentHouston, Texas
Nothing open right now.

On record since 2008: 10 violations. 6 over the limit · 4 notices or reports. Most recent began 2024-10-06.

For this year's test results, ask the utility for its annual Consumer Confidence Report. Every community system must publish one.

6Over the limit
0Treatment lapse
0Missed or late test
4Notice or report

More violations on record than 61% of active water systems in Texas. Small systems with no staff chemist often rack up missed-test violations; big utilities rarely do.

The record, year by year

20052008 · Notice or report: 22008 · Notice or report: 22010201520202023 · Over the limit: 22023 · Over the limit: 22024 · Over the limit: 42024 · Over the limit: 42024 · Over the limit: 42024 · Over the limit: 42024 · Notice or report: 22024 · Notice or report: 22025
One square = one violation, by the year it began. Empty columns are years with nothing on EPA's record.
60% over the limit · 640% notice or report · 4

Across Texas, 60% of violations are missed or late tests and 10% are water over a limit.

How far over the limit

at the limit2×5×10×100×+Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UCombined Radium (-226 and...2024-04-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 37.00 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (2.5×)2024-04-01 · Combined Radium (-226 and -228): measured 8.00 PCI/L vs limit 5.00 PCI/L (1.6×)2024-01-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 27.00 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (1.8×)2024-01-01 · Combined Radium (-226 and -228): measured 6.00 PCI/L vs limit 5.00 PCI/L (1.2×)2023-10-01 · Combined Radium (-226 and -228): measured 6.00 PCI/L vs limit 5.00 PCI/L (1.2×)2023-10-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 29.00 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (1.9×)
Each dot is one over-the-limit violation: the measured value divided by the limit it broke, on a log scale. Most legal limits for chemicals are running averages set for a lifetime of drinking, so “just over” and “ten times over” are very different news. Hover a dot for the numbers.

Lead & copper at the tap

Utilities sample taps in homes most likely to have lead pipes, and report the 90th-percentile result: 9 in 10 homes sampled came in at or below this number. Above the red line (the action level) the utility must act. The action level is not a safe level; EPA's health goal for lead is zero. EPA's file does not date these results, so they are shown highest first.

Lead, 90th percentile 3 results on file · action level 15 ppb

2.6 ppb
1 ppb
0 ppb

Every violation on record

  1. 2024-10-06Public Notice ×2PN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
  2. 2024-04-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 37.00 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  3. 2024-04-01Combined Radium (-226 and -228)MCL, Averagemeasured 8.00 PCI/L · limit 5.00 PCI/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  4. 2024-01-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 27.00 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  5. 2024-01-01Combined Radium (-226 and -228)MCL, Averagemeasured 6.00 PCI/L · limit 5.00 PCI/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  6. 2023-10-01Combined Radium (-226 and -228)MCL, Averagemeasured 6.00 PCI/L · limit 5.00 PCI/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  7. 2023-10-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 29.00 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  8. 2008-07-25Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
  9. 2008-05-26Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance

System details

Population served9,471
Service connections3,134
Water sourceGroundwater
System typeCommunity Water System
OwnerLocal Government
StatusActive
CityHouston
EPA ZIP on file77019-7120

Areas served

  • Harris County

Reading this record

Trail of the Lakes Mud is a community water system that draws from groundwater and serves about 9,471 people in Houston, Texas. Everything above comes from the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), where states report every violation by every public water system.

Four kinds of violation. Only one is a measurement of the water: over the limit means a test came back above a legal maximum (an MCL). A treatment lapse means a required protective step was not done, such as disinfection, filtration, fixing a defect an inspector found, or filing a lead-pipe inventory. A missed or late test means a required test was skipped or never reported. That is the most common kind, and the most misread: it does not mean the water was bad, and it does not mean the water was fine. Notices and reports covers public notices and the annual Consumer Confidence Report.

Status. “Back in compliance” means the state recorded a return to compliance. “Period ended” means the violation's compliance period is over but no return to compliance was ever filed, which is common in older records. EPA's federal copy lags state records by months, so call the utility for anything current.