States → Alabama
State profile · EPA SDWIS + UCMR5
Alabama Drinking Water Quality
562 public water systems serve 6,193,356 people across Alabama, with every Safe Drinking Water Act violation and UCMR5 PFAS result on record.
- 562
- Water systems
- 40,486
- Total violations
- 98.6%
- Systems w/ a violation
- 51.3%
- PFAS detection rate
The verdict
Across Alabama, 554 of 562 water systems (98.6%) carry at least one EPA violation, and 157 of 306 UCMR5-tested systems show PFAS.
- 40,486
- Total EPA violations on record
- 9%
- Health-based (MCL / treatment)
- 98.6%
- Systems with ≥1 violation
- 51.3%
- UCMR5 PFAS detection rate
Water Systems
562
Total Violations
40,486
Violation Rate
98.6%
PFAS Detection
51.3%
157 of 306 tested
Violation Composition
How Alabama's 40,486 violations break down by type, per EPA SDWIS classification.
Health-based (3,786) Monitoring/Reporting (36,700)
| Metric | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Public water systems | 562 | - |
| Population served | 6,193,356 | - |
| Total violations | 40,486 | 100% |
| Health-based violations | 3,786 | 9.4% |
| Systems with violations | 554 | 98.6% |
| PFAS detection rate | 157 of 306 | 51.3% |
Health-based violations indicate the contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) or treatment-technique requirement. Monitoring/reporting violations indicate procedural issues (missed tests, late reports) - not necessarily a contamination event.
Largest Water Systems
Central Alabama Water System
Birmingham, AL · 585,000 served
Mobile, Bd. of W&S Comm. of the City Of
Mobile, AL · 279,000 served
Montgomery (Ww&ssb of the City Of)
Montgomery, AL · 276,000 served
Huntsville Utilities
Huntsville, AL · 262,158 served
Tuscaloosa Water & Sewer
Tuscaloosa, AL · 166,524 served
Madison County Water Department
Huntsville, AL · 119,100 served
Dothan Utilities, City Of
Dothan, AL · 97,146 served
Bessemer Water Service
Bessemer, AL · 86,091 served
Florence, Water Department, City Of
Florence, AL · 77,766 served
Decatur, Municipal Utilities Board Of
Decatur, AL · 77,103 served
Auburn Water Works
Auburn, AL · 65,313 served
Limestone County Water and Sewer Auth.
Athens, AL · 65,003 served
Fairhope, City Of
Fairhope, AL · 59,484 served
Anniston Alabama, the Wwsb of the City O
Anniston, AL · 56,646 served
Cullman County Water Department
Cullman, AL · 55,974 served
Madison, the W & Ww Board of the City Of
Madison, AL · 54,114 served
Harvest-Monrovia Water System
Prospect, AL · 51,915 served
Foley, Utilities Board of the City Of
Foley, AL · 50,919 served
Enterprise Water Works
Enterprise, AL · 48,000 served
Northeast Alabama Water, Sewer, and Fpd
Fort Payne, AL · 47,070 served
Most Violations
#1 North Baldwin Utilities Bay Minette
697 #2 Henry County Water Authority Abbeville
578 #3 East Central Baldwin County Water & Fpa Robertsdale
566 #4 Robertsdale, City Of Robertsdale
527 #5 Frisco City Water System Frisco City
496 #6 East Brewton Water & Sewer Board East Brewton
487 #7 US Army Garrison-Redstone Arsenal Redstone Arsenal
474 #8 Fairhope, City Of Fairhope
471 #9 Cwm Water Authority Dickinson
467 #10 Lemoyne Water System, Inc. Axis
440 #11 Ardmore Water System Ardmore
432 #12 South Alabama Utilities Water System Citronelle
426 #13 Dothan Utilities, City Of Dothan
424 #14 Northeast Alabama Water, Sewer, and Fpd Fort Payne
398 #15 Enterprise Water Works Enterprise
393 Counties in Alabama
Jefferson
14 systems · 807,140 served
· 493 violations
Madison
9 systems · 557,706 served
· 1,075 violations
Mobile
15 systems · 461,024 served
· 2,918 violations
Baldwin
24 systems · 303,145 served
· 3,219 violations
Montgomery
8 systems · 291,756 served
· 426 violations
Tuscaloosa
10 systems · 272,754 served
· 118 violations
Shelby
16 systems · 210,543 served
· 749 violations
Lee
7 systems · 178,816 served
· 572 violations
Morgan
6 systems · 159,489 served
· 224 violations
Calhoun
10 systems · 150,377 served
· 652 violations
Cullman
11 systems · 138,799 served
· 398 violations
Marshall
9 systems · 133,944 served
· 437 violations
Houston
16 systems · 127,626 served
· 1,072 violations
Lauderdale
8 systems · 125,019 served
· 164 violations
Etowah
17 systems · 124,954 served
· 963 violations
Elmore
10 systems · 110,629 served
· 608 violations
Limestone
4 systems · 109,826 served
· 664 violations
Jackson
8 systems · 97,683 served
· 482 violations
St. Clair
17 systems · 91,862 served
· 571 violations
Talladega
16 systems · 90,063 served
· 1,068 violations
Walker
15 systems · 86,841 served
· 540 violations
Colbert
13 systems · 84,199 served
· 754 violations
DeKalb
6 systems · 82,045 served
· 700 violations
Russell
5 systems · 74,437 served
· 600 violations
Autauga
7 systems · 71,634 served
· 885 violations
Blount
12 systems · 69,493 served
· 803 violations
Dale
15 systems · 69,284 served
· 472 violations
Coffee
8 systems · 68,696 served
· 991 violations
Tallapoosa
11 systems · 65,594 served
· 596 violations
Chilton
5 systems · 50,244 served
· 211 violations
Showing top 30 of 67 counties.
Drinking Water Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
How many water systems are in Alabama? ▼
Alabama has 562 public water systems serving approximately 6,193,356 people. These include community water systems, non-transient non-community systems, and transient non-community systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
How many drinking water violations are in Alabama? ▼
Alabama has 40,486 total drinking water violations on record, with 3,786 classified as health-based violations. 98.6% of water systems in the state have at least one violation.
Has PFAS been found in Alabama drinking water? ▼
Of 306 water systems tested for PFAS in Alabama, 157 had PFAS detected, a 51.3% detection rate. PFAS are persistent "forever chemicals" that do not break down in the environment.
What is the violation rate for Alabama water systems? ▼
Alabama's violation rate is 98.6%. This measures the percentage of public water systems that have at least one recorded violation in the EPA SDWIS database, including both health-based and monitoring/reporting violations.
Where does this Alabama water data come from? ▼
All drinking water data comes from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) and the UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program. SDWIS is the federal database that tracks compliance for all public water systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Data Sources & Methodology
Drinking water violation data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS). PFAS testing data from the UCMR5 monitoring program. SDWIS tracks all public water systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 PFAS monitoring data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainWater Editorial
Every figure on PlainWater is rendered directly from EPA SDWIS drinking-water data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on EPA SDWIS data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.