A new University of Texas at Austin study found several water samples collected from the Austin’s Colony neighborhood in far East Austin exceeded regulatory guidelines for lead, iron, manganese and other heavy metals. The study was peer-reviewed and published in the nonprofit science journal PLOS late last month.
The findings are among the first third-party, in-depth data available on the neighborhood’s water quality. For decades, residents in the area have been at odds with its water provider, a for-profit company called Texas Water Utilities, for providing an inadequate product at high rates. Before turning on the tap, Austin’s Colony residents pay a $59.39 base fee — seven times higher than Austin Water’s base fee.
UT researchers surveyed community members and collected 100 water samples from individual homes between April 2024 and October 2025 for the study. They also collected samples directly from the water sources Texas Water Utilities draws from, which include a groundwater aquifer and the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer…