All Cities
Local Water DataCameron County

RO Membrane Selection for Brownsville, TX Water

Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB)
PWS ID: TX0310001
2025 water quality report

What's in Brownsville's Water

Reported values from Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB)'s 2025 water quality data. Feed water chemistry drives membrane choice, operating pressure, and cleaning frequency.

Source water

Surface water — Rio Grande intake, City of Brownsville Terminal Reservoir and Resaca de la Palma — blended with brackish groundwater desalinated by the Southmost Regional Water Authority and an El Jardin WSC surface interconnect

Total Dissolved Solids

772 mg/L

Elevated TDS — above the EPA secondary standard of 500 mg/L; RO is the standard fix

Hardness

358 mg/L as CaCO3

Very hard — high scaling risk — expect antiscalant dosing, conservative recovery, and a regular cleaning schedule

Aluminum0.022 ppm
Arsenic2.4 ppb
Barium0.101 ppm
Beta emitters7.1 pCi/L
Calcium92.8 ppm
Chloramines3.25 ppm
Chloride170 ppm
Chlorine dioxide44 ppb
Chlorite0.9 ppm
Cyanide50 ppb
Fluoride0.54 ppm
HAA517.3 ppb
Hardness (range)341-374 ppm
Lithium43.8 ppb
Nickel0.004 ppm
Nitrate0.74 ppm
Pfba ppt6.15
Pfbs ppt2.81
Pfhpa ppt3.05
Pfhxa ppt5.82
Pfhxs ppt3.67
Pfoa ppt3.9
Pfos ppt5.3
Pfpea ppt5.7
PH8
Selenium3.6 ppb
Sodium162 ppm
Sulfate229 ppm
TDS (range)639-905 ppm
Total alkalinity123 ppm
TTHM48.1 ppb
TTHM (range)8.7-48.1 ppb
Zinc0.0191 ppm

Our Recommendation for Brownsville

Brownsville publishes the full mineral picture and it reads brackish: TDS 772 mg/L (ranging to 905), hardness 358, chloride 170, sulfate 229. Add a published PFAS panel — PFOS averaging 5.3 ppt, above the finalized 4 ppt federal MCL utilities must eventually meet — and RO makes the case twice: a NanoH2O (formerly LG) BW 400 R G2 rejects both the salinity and PFAS. Proof point: part of Brownsville's own supply already comes from the Southmost Regional Water Authority's brackish groundwater RO desalination plant.

Membranes Matched to This Water

The Industry Workhorse

NanoH2O (LG) BW 400 R G2

  • 99.8% salt rejection
  • 11,500 GPD · 225 psi
  • 400 ft² active area
View membrane

Running RO on Brownsville water?

Send us your system size and feed water details — we'll spec the right membrane for your operation and quote same-day shipping.

Data Source

Water quality values on this page are taken from Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB)'s 2025 published water quality report (PWS ID TX0310001). Values are utility-wide averages; water at a specific site can vary. For membrane selection on a critical system, test your actual feed water.

View the official report