Located in north central Texas, the City of Coppell is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, an agglomeration of cities that make up the 10th most populous region in North America. Founded as a farming town by German and French immigrants in the 1830s, Coppell is now home to over 40,000 people. While the City of Coppell is responsible for the operations and maintenance of the water distribution and wastewater collection systems in a predominantly residential area with 16,000 connections, the City relies on purchased drinking water from Dallas Water Utilities with chloramine residual in the range of 3.0 mg/L to 3.5 mg/L.

Like many cities within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Coppell experienced water quality challenges at different periods throughout the year. In particular, the City had difficulty maintaining adequate chloramine residuals at the 1.5 MG Southwestern elevated storage tank during the warmer summer months when outdoor watering was restricted to conserve water. The reduced demand in that area of the system meant less turnover in the storage tanks, resulting in higher water age and chloramine residual decay. Ironically, the City experienced similar water quality problems during periods of rain, as customers curtailed their outdoor irrigation.