Water quality · Kyle
What's in Kyle water, by the numbers
Kyle tap water is safe to drink, meets state and federal standards, and reported no violations in the city's latest annual report. It's also very hard, roughly 16 to 17 grains per gallon by the city's own figures, and disinfected with free chlorine. Here are the numbers, with sources.
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The headline numbers
Very hard, chlorinated, and freshly blended
These come from Kyle's own Consumer Confidence Reports, the annual water quality disclosure every utility publishes.
17gpg
Typical hardness (16 to 17 gpg range)
2025 CCR
295mg/L
Top of the reported hardness range (as CaCO₃)
2025 CCR
1.43ppm
Average free chlorine residual at the tap
2025 CCR
5
City wells, blended with three purchased supplies
2025 CCR
The Water Quality Association calls anything over 10.5 gpg (180 mg/L) “very hard,” the top of its scale. Kyle's own report notes its water exceeds that threshold.
Where the water comes from
Most Kyle homes are served by the City of Kyle's system, which blends five city wells drawing on the Edwards Aquifer (one in its Barton Springs segment) with three purchased supplies: surface water from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, surface water from the City of San Marcos, and, since May 2025, Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer water through the Alliance Regional Water Authority pipeline.
The city's report says it plainly. Groundwater is the main contributor of hardness, and the mix shifts through the year. That's why hardness at your tap can differ from your neighbor's across town, and why the reported range has already drifted downward slightly as the new supply came online.
One caveat: some addresses in and around Kyle are served by other utilities, like Goforth SUD or County Line SUD, rather than the city. Your water bill says which system is yours, and the free test works the same either way.
From the reports
Notable readings, next to their limits
A CCR lists everything detected. These are the entries homeowners ask about, from Kyle's 2025 report.
| Substance | Reported | Limit | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (city wells) | 1.83 ppm (highest) | 10 ppm (MCL) | Within limit |
| Fluoride (naturally occurring) | 1.83 ppm | 4 ppm (MCL) | Within limit |
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) | 67 ppb (highest running average) | 80 ppb (MCL) | Within limit |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) | 25 ppb (highest running average) | 60 ppb (MCL) | Within limit |
| Lead (90th percentile, 2023–2025) | 1.91 ppb | 15 ppb (action level) | Within limit |
| Copper (90th percentile, 2023–2025) | 0.0975 ppm | 1.3 ppm (action level) | Within limit |
Kyle's system reported no violations for the 2025 report year. Because Kyle buys some water from San Marcos, its report also discloses that the San Marcos system had a trihalomethane exceedance at one monitoring site in late 2025, which that city is correcting. We cover it on the San Marcos water quality page.
Also worth knowing is that Kyle's fluoride reading is naturally occurring. The city doesn't add it.
PFAS and nitrate
What the testing shows for PFAS and nitrate
These are the two contaminants homeowners ask us about most. Here's what Kyle's own testing found, and what the numbers mean.
Nitrate is regulated because too much of it is genuinely dangerous, specifically for infants. The EPA's limit is 10 milligrams per liter, in place since 1992, and it's tied to a real health outcome: water above that level can cause blue baby syndrome in infants under six months who drink formula mixed with it. It isn't a concern for anyone else. Kyle's highest recent reading, 1.83 ppm, is well under a fifth of the limit.
PFAS, often called forever chemicals, are a newer and less settled story. They're manufactured compounds used for decades in things like nonstick coatings and firefighting foam, and they break down very slowly. The EPA set its first enforceable drinking water limits for six of them in 2024, 4 parts per trillion each for PFOA and PFOS, the two studied longest. Those numbers have moved before: EPA's health guidance for PFOA and PFOS was 70 parts per trillion in 2016 and near zero by 2022, tightening as more research came in. Kyle's required testing found no PFOA or PFOS at any sampling point. Three other compounds turned up in trace amounts, none with a federal limit yet. Nobody can promise trace amounts below today's limits are completely harmless, because the science on PFAS is still being written. That's a fair reason to want extra filtering even where the water passes every current test, and a fair reason not to. We wrote up what actually removes PFAS if you want the honest version.
Which numbers are about safety, and which aren't
The table above is the safety layer. It covers regulated substances with legal limits, monitored constantly and publicly reported. That system works, and Kyle's water passes it.
Hardness and chlorine taste live in a different category. The EPA doesn't set health limits for them because they aren't health problems. They're quality-of-life items. They're also what you actually notice every day, and what treatment exists to fix. Scale on your fixtures and pool-taste in your glass are optional. The safety layer stays the utility's job either way.
One question we hear a lot
Does Kyle's water have PFAS?
Kyle's required federal testing in 2023 and 2024 found no PFOA or PFOS, the two PFAS compounds with the strictest federal limits, at any of the city's sampling points. Three other compounds, PFBA, PFPeA, and PFHxA, showed up in trace amounts, none of which have a federal limit. The city's own water quality reports and EPA's public testing data agree.
What a free test adds to the city's report
The CCR describes the system, and Kyle's system is a moving blend of eight supplies. Your house is one tap at the end of one path through it. The free in-home test measures hardness, chlorine, iron, and TDS at that tap (TDS is a number the city's reports don't publish), and you keep the results.
Book the free testSources
- City of Kyle 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (CCR)
- City of Kyle 2024 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (CCR)
- City of Kyle water quality reports page
- Water Quality Association: hardness and scale deposits
- EPA: PFAS national drinking water regulation
- EPA UCMR5 PFAS testing data finder
- EPA: Table of Regulated Drinking Water Contaminants (nitrate)
Figures reflect the most recent city reports at the time of writing. CCRs update annually.
Get your tap's own numbers
The free test takes about 30 minutes at your kitchen sink. We measure hardness, chlorine, iron, and TDS, and we explain every number in plain English. The city tests the system, and we test your house.
What you get
- Hardness, chlorine, iron, and TDS tested at your tap
- Results explained in plain English, yours to keep
- A recommendation sized to your home (only if you want one)