Friendswood Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

The City of Friendswood Public Works utility serves Friendswood in Galveston and Harris Counties, Texas, with a population around 40,000. Primary water is purchased from the City of Houston, delivered via the Southeast Water Treatment Plant, Richey Metering Station, and Allen Genoa Metering Station, drawing surface water from Lake Livingston reservoir and the Trinity River. Supplementing this are eight municipal wells — Cascade, Deepwater, Guthrie, Pansy, Red Bluff, Sycamore, Tulip, and Westside — drawing from the Gulf Coast Aquifer at depths of 600 feet or more.

The Trinity River watershed spans 17,969 square miles across Texas, fed by tributaries flowing through Cretaceous limestones and sandstones into Lake Livingston, a 90,000-acre reservoir. Supplemental groundwater taps the Gulf Coast Aquifer, a thick Tertiary-Quaternary sequence of sands and clays overlying the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, with water influenced by Cretaceous formations including the Woodbine, Austin Chalk, and Navarro. Minerals leached from carbonate-rich formations and concentrated by evaporation and ion exchange in the aquifer matrix impart a hard character to the mixed supply.

Very hard water in Friendswood promotes significant scale buildup in pipes, water heaters, dishwashers, washing machines, and coffee makers, with clogged aerators and stained surfaces common. Regular vinegar descaling, installing scale inhibitors, and flushing systems help mitigate damage; a water softener is strongly recommended to prevent appliance deterioration and improve soap lathering. Water is compliant with EPA standards; fluoride averaged 0.8 ppm and nitrate 0.93 ppm per the 2022 CCR, with third-party tests flagging 1,2,3-Trichloropropane above health guidelines from soil fumigants; no PFAS or lead/copper violations noted in available CCRs.