Drinking water quality · 2024
· Verified
· PWSID AL0000882
What's in Huntsville, AL tap water
2 contaminants in Huntsville, AL's water sat at or above a federal limit, led by PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) at 2.3x the limit.
- !2 contaminants at or above a federal limit — worst is PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) at 2.3x
- !1 contaminant within 20% of a limit
- !12 of 27 core regulated contaminants reported — 15 never appear in this report
- ✓No open federal violations
+How this score is calculated
Every system starts at 100. Points come off for measured levels, for the federal violation record, and for how much of the core regulated set the utility actually reported. All three inputs are the utility's own published numbers and EPA's own records.
- −41 contaminants at or above a federal limit
- −4 contaminants within 20% of a limit
- −0 open health-based violations
- −0 open monitoring / reporting violations
- −0 health-based violations resolved in the last 5 years
- −11 core regulated contaminants never reported (12/27)
A 90–100 · B 80–89 · C 70–79 · D 60–69 · F below 60. A system reporting under a third of the core set is capped at C however clean its numbers look — a short report is not a clean bill of health.
Full grading methodology, constant for constant →What to worry about
- PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)2.3× the federal limit9 ng/L · limit 4 ng/L
Linked to cancer, thyroid disease, and immune effects; the EPA set an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion.
higher than 75% of U.S. systems
- PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid)1.2× the federal limit4.7 ng/L · limit 4 ng/L
Linked to cancer, liver damage, and immune effects; the EPA set an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion.
higher than 65% of U.S. systems
- Chlorine95% of the federal limit2.1–3.8 mg/L · limit 4 mg/L
Effective and necessary, but high residual levels can cause taste and odor issues; the EPA caps the residual disinfectant level.
higher than 95% of U.S. systems
+30 contaminants were measured and came in below the limitShow all
| Contaminant | Measured | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| HAA5 | 21.4–47.8 ug/L | 60 ug/L |
| TTHM | 24.1–51.6 ug/L | 80 ug/L |
| Turbidity | 0.62 NTU | 1 NTU |
| Nitrate | 0.57–3.5 mg/L | 10 mg/L |
| Fluoride | 0–0.74 mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| Copper | 0.19 mg/L | 1.3 mg/L |
| Tetrachloroethylene | 0–0.72 ug/L | 5 ug/L |
| Heptachlor Epoxide | 0–0.021 ug/L | 0.2 ug/L |
| Lead | 1 ug/L | 15 ug/L |
| Barium | 0.02–0.03 mg/L | 2 mg/L |
| Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid | 0.0004 ng/L | 10 ng/L |
| Bromodichloromethane | 5.4 ug/L | — |
| Chloroform | 25 ug/L | — |
| Dibromochloromethane | 0.66 ug/L | — |
| Chloride | 7–11.4 mg/L | — |
| Sulfate | 8.8–27.3 mg/L | — |
| Aluminum | 0.03–0.08 mg/L | — |
| Sodium | 4.4–12.8 mg/L | — |
| Zinc | 0.01 mg/L | — |
| Total Coliform | 4 | 0 |
| Perfluoroheptanoic acid | 0.0002 | — |
| PFAS | 0.0339–0.0491 | — |
| Hardness | 69.6–192 mg/L | — |
| pH | 6.8–8.6 | — |
| TOC | 0.92–2.3 mg/L | — |
| Total Dissolved Solids | 118–217 mg/L | — |
| PFPeA | 5.3 ng/L | — |
| PFHxA | 4.4 ng/L | — |
| PFBA | 11 ng/L | — |
| PFBS | 6.2 ng/L | — |
What this report doesn't tell you
15 of the 27 contaminants a community water system normally reports do not appear anywhere in Huntsville, AL's data. Absent is not the same as absent-from-the-water — it means nobody published a number.
+Full detail: PFAS testing, water source, historical monitoring, and the federal violation record
PFAS — EPA UCMR5 (2023–2025)
2 PFAS compounds above EPA limits in Huntsville, AL
The EPA finalized the first-ever federal drinking-water limits for six PFAS compounds in April 2024. These numbers come straight from EPA's UCMR5 lab dataset — every U.S. system serving more than 3,300 people tested every PFAS sample at an entry point to its distribution system. PFAS not listed below were either tested and not detected, or not yet sampled.
PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)
● Over EPA limit (2.3×)PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid)
● Over EPA limit (1.2×)PFPeA
● Detected (no federal limit)PFHxA
● Detected (no federal limit)PFBA
● Detected (no federal limit)PFBS
● Detected (no federal limit)Where your water comes from · EPA SDWIS
Huntsville, AL's drinking water comes from ground water, drawn from 6 sources.
Source
- TENNESSEE RIVER · 2
- DALLAS WELL
- WILLIAMS WELL
- LINCOLN WELL
- + 1 more
Treatment
- SOUTHWEST WTP
- SOUTH PARKWAY WTP
- WILLIAMS WTP
- + 2 more
Distribution
Also buys water from LIMESTONE COUNTY WATER & SEWER AUTH..
Compliance history
Federal Safe Drinking Water Act violation & enforcement records (EPA SDWIS). A violation is a regulatory determination by the state or EPA — separate from the measured levels above.