Irving, Texas

Water Quality in Irving, Texas

Watershed: Delaware Creek – West Fork Trinity River

What is the water quality like in Irving, TX?

Let’s dive deeper into what’s in Irving water.

What’s in Irving water?

Here are the top 6 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

1. Arsenic – Potential effect: Cancer
2. Bromodichloromethane – Potential effect: Cancer
3. Chloroform – Potential effect: Cancer
4. Haloacetic acids – Potential effect: Cancer
5. Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
6. Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer

These are six of the 41 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

14 of these contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

See the What Can You Do? section below for all of the contaminants you can filter out and how to do it.

Where does Irving’s water come from?

Irving’s water comes from the Delaware Creek – West Fork Trinity River watershed.

3 of the 7 EPA assessed water sources in the Delaware Creek – West Fork Trinity River watershed are in Impaired condition. These include:

• Dalworth Creek
• Lower West Fork Trinity River
• West Irving Creek

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. These are in Good condition:

• Bear Creek
• Copart Branch Mountain Creek
• Delaware Creek
• Mountain Creek

Whether a water source is in Impaired or Good condition refers to the quality of these uses:

1. Drinking Water
2. Aquatic Life
3. Fish and Shellfish Consumption
4. Recreation

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

See below for what you can do to improve Irving’s water.

Conclusion – What Can You Do?

Information about water quality can be surprising.

But there’s no reason to lose hope. There are things you can do in your household as well as things you can do at a community level.

In Your Household:

• Use Berkey filters with activated carbon to filter out 33 of the 41 contaminants in your drinking water.
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Irving water.
  • Brita can filter 21 contaminants (and Lead depending on the filter).
  • Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
• To filter out 36 of the 41 contaminants, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.
  • These are more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but can be more effective.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • 1,4-Dioxane – “Exposure may cause damage to the central nervous system, liver and kidneys.”
    • Aluminum
    • Androstenedione
    • Antimony
    • Arsenic – health effects in water
    • Atrazine – herbicide
    • Barium – In low doses, barium ions act as a muscle stimulant, and higher doses affect the nervous system, causing cardiac irregularities, tremors, weakness, anxiety, shortness of breath, and paralysis.
    • Bromate
    • Bromochloroacetic acid
    • Bromodichloromethane – health risks in drinking water
    • Bromoform
    • Chloroform – side effects
    • Chromium (total)
    • Cyanide
    • Dibromoacetic acid
    • Dibromochloromethane
    • Dichloroacetic acid
    • Fluoride
    • Haloacetic acids – chlorination byproduct*
    • Hexavalent chromium – health effects
    • Methyl ethyl ketone
    • Molybdenum
    • Monobromoacetic acid
    • Monochloroacetic acid
    • Naphthalene – best known as the main ingredient in mothballs. “Exposure to large amounts of naphthalene may damage or destroy red blood cells, most commonly in people with the inherited condition G6PD deficiency, which over 400 million people suffer from.” [source]
    • Nitrate
    • Nitrite
    • Radium
    • Selenium – toxicity
    • Simazine – herbicide (banned in European Union states)
    • Strontium
    • Tetrahydrofuran – can cause rapid dehydration. Readily dissolves latex. Highly flammable. See: Precautions
    • Total trihalomethanes – byproduct of chlorination*
    • Trichloroacetic acid

*Chlorination is an effective method of disinfecting/treating drinking water. You can then use a water filter to reduce the effects of chlorination byproducts to get the safest, cleanest water possible.

In Your Community:

Contact your local government officials and put pressure on them to invest in cleaner waterways and upgraded city water filtration and treatment.

Go to: https://www.cityofirving.org/27/Government to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Texas Cities

Texas Water Quality Page