Verified utility-level summary

What’s Actually in Sugar Land’s Water?

Public drinking water can meet federal standards while still exceeding other health-based guidelines. The comparisons below clearly identify whether a number is an EPA legal limit or an EWG health guideline.

City snapshot

Sugar Land

Utility represented: City of Sugar Land

EWG data period: 2013–2023

Utility

City of Sugar Land

Water source

Surface water

Above EWG guidelines

17

Total detected

42

An EWG health guideline is a health-based benchmark, not an EPA legal limit. Public drinking water can meet federal standards while exceeding other health-based guidelines.

Notable verified findings

6:2 Fluorotelomer Sulfonic Acid (6:2 FTSA)

Detected: 60.2 ppt

60×

EWG health guideline

EWG health guideline
1 ppt
EPA legal limit
No federal legal limit shown

6:2 FTSA is a fluorinated compound associated with some industrial and firefighting-foam uses.

The comparison shown uses EWG's health-based guideline. No federal legal limit is shown in the supplied record.

Activated CarbonReverse Osmosis

Bromodichloromethane

Detected: 0.884 ppb

Approximately 15×

EWG health guideline

EWG health guideline
0.06 ppb
EPA legal limit
No individual EPA legal limit

This treatment byproduct can form when disinfectants react with naturally occurring material in source water.

EWG publishes a health-based guideline for this individual disinfection byproduct. No individual EPA legal limit is shown for it here.

Activated CarbonReverse Osmosis

What treatment may help?

Treatment depends on the specific water concern and your home. These technologies address different needs.

Water Softening

Helps address hardness minerals and scale. A softener does not remove every contaminant listed in a utility report.

Catalytic Carbon

May help reduce chlorine, chloramine, and certain treatment byproducts or other contaminants where supported.

Reverse Osmosis

Provides additional drinking-water treatment and may reduce many dissolved contaminants.

Your home may be different.

Published utility data describes the public water system, not a test of the water at your specific faucet. Water quality can vary by utility, neighborhood, plumbing and over time.

Methodology and disclaimer: Detected values and summary counts on this page come from the supplied Environmental Working Group Tap Water Database record for the represented utility. EWG health guidelines are health-based benchmarks and are not EPA legal limits. Treatment information is educational and does not guarantee performance for a specific home.

Primary data source: Environmental Working Group Tap Water Database