The water is moved by pipeline to the O. N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant near Five Points. Lake Texana water is pumped through the 101-mile Mary Rhodes Pipeline directly to the water treatment plant where it is blended with water from the Nueces River. The Safe Drinking Water Act requires all states to establish Source Water Protection Programs that analyze existing and potential threats to the quality of the public drinking water. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission has begun a review of all of the state's drinking water sources including those in the Coastal Bend. This source water assessment will be completed in three years.
All drinking water contains some naturally-occurring contaminants.
The sources of drinking water, both tap water and bottled water, include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or human activity. Inorganic contaminants , such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming. Pesticides and herbicides , which which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses. Organic chemical contaminants , including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.