El Paso
A desert border city that has practiced water reuse for decades and is building one of the first advanced purification plants in the U.S. to put recycled water directly into the drinking system.
el paso water utilities public service b
surface water (rivers/reservoirs) · local government · PWSID TX0710002
Below EPA's 15 ppb lead action level at last testing.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) · 2026 Q1
El Paso, in the far west Texas desert, draws on the Rio Grande and the Hueco and Mesilla Bolson aquifers — all under long-term stress. The city has been a national conservation leader, cutting per-capita use dramatically over decades.
El Paso Water already operates one of the world's largest inland desalination plants for brackish groundwater. It is now building an Advanced Water Purification Facility designed to deliver purified recycled water directly into the distribution system — among the first direct potable reuse plants of its kind in the country.
The city's approach — combining conservation, desalination, and direct potable reuse — is a template for inland arid communities without a coastline to desalinate.
El Paso County water quality
Source: EPA SDWIS · 2026 Q1
At a glance
- Decades of aggressive conservation and reuse
- Operates a large inland brackish-water desalination plant
- Building a direct potable reuse purification facility
Statewide drought history
% of Texas in severe+ drought (Severe (D2) now).
Source: U.S. Drought Monitor
Common questions
Is tap water safe in El Paso?
El Paso's largest water system, EL PASO WATER UTILITIES PUBLIC SERVICE B, serves about 747,168 people. EPA records show 0 health-based violation(s) since 2016 and a most-recent 90th-percentile lead level of 1.2 ppb (EPA action level is 15 ppb). Always check your own provider's annual Consumer Confidence Report.
Where does El Paso get its water?
EL PASO WATER UTILITIES PUBLIC SERVICE B draws primarily from surface water (rivers/reservoirs), part of Texas's supply from reservoirs, Ogallala aquifer, Edwards aquifer.
Related water issues
Potable Reuse
Advanced purification turns treated wastewater into water that meets or exceeds drinking-water standards — increasingly essential in water-stressed regions.
ExploreDrought
Much of the American West is in a multi-decade dry period that researchers describe as the most severe in over a millennium, reshaping how communities plan for water.
ExploreGroundwater Depletion
Aquifers from the Central Valley to the Ogallala are being pumped faster than they recharge, causing land subsidence and threatening long-term supply.
ExploreAgricultural Demand
Agriculture accounts for the majority of consumptive water use in the West, making farm efficiency and water markets central to any supply solution.
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