Belton Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Belton, Texas, in Bell County — the Bell County seat in the Central Texas I-35 corridor, adjacent to Temple and Killeen in the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metropolitan area — receives its municipal water from the City of Belton Water Utilities or Bell County Water Control and Improvement Districts, which draw from Belton Lake (the Leon River impoundment managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers west of Belton) as the primary surface water supply for the Belton metro area.

The very hard 230.5 mg/L hardness and high TDS of 581.3 mg/L reflect the Leon River-Belton Lake watershed's Central Texas Cretaceous limestone and chalk geology. The Leon River drains the eastern Edwards Plateau transition zone (the Cretaceous Comanche Peak Limestone, Edwards Limestone, and Georgetown Formation — the classic Texas Hill Country carbonate sequence) and the Central Texas Black Waxy Prairie (the Austin Chalk and Taylor Marl — calcareous marine chalk and marl). These Cretaceous carbonate and calcareous formations produce the consistently very hard water characteristic of the Killeen-Temple-Belton corridor — identical to the Cretaceous chalk supply serving much of Central Texas I-35 corridor communities.

At 230.5 mg/L, Belton's water is very hard — scale builds rapidly in kettles and appliances, dishwashers require rinse aid and softener salt, and bathroom fixtures develop calcium encrustation. Monthly descaling of heating appliances is practical. A water softener is recommended. The PFAS level of 7.9 ppt warrants a certified drinking water filter — Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) (US Army's largest active-duty military installation — an extensive AFFF user in the Leon River watershed) is the primary PFAS source for Bell County's elevated readings.