City of Ashford Water Works
What EPA’s and Alabama’s records show in this utility’s water: PFAS and lithium; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.
- Serves
- 3,816 people
- Connections
- 1,256
- Water source
- Groundwater
- Based in
- Ashford, AL
- County
- Houston
- Owner
- Local government
- Hardness
- Moderately hard
The short answer
Nothing in EPA’s and Alabama’s records for this utility is above a health goal. That covers PFAS and lithium; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; and lead and copper, not everything. No health-based violations on file since 2016.
What was found
PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from Feb. 18, 2025 to July 30, 2025.
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, nitrate, arsenic and chromium (total): Alabama’s own results, samples taken from April 6, 2020 to Aug. 26, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.
PFAS: None of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule was found in this utility’s samples. None of the other 23 PFAS tested for was found either.
EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound
| PFAS | EPA’s limit | Result |
|---|---|---|
| PFOA | 4.0 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 4 ppt |
| PFOS | 4.0 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 4 ppt |
| PFHxS | 10 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 3 ppt |
| PFNA | 10 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 4 ppt |
| HFPO-DA (GenX) | 10 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 5 ppt |
| PFBS | Index only | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 3 ppt |
| Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together | 1 | Doesn’t applyDoesn’t apply: no sampling location found two or more of the four |
| Results from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling. “Below” is the lab’s reporting level: a result under it reads as not found, which is not the same as zero. The limits are EPA’s 2024 rule, with compliance due from 2029; EPA has since proposed changes to some of them, explained on each compound’s page. PFBS has no limit of its own and counts only toward the Hazard Index, which adds up the four, each against EPA’s health-based level, from each sampling location’s average, as EPA’s UCMR 5 summary does. It counts only where two or more of the four were found, and is above the limit from 1.5. | ||
Below EPA’s limits4
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)
Forms or is added in treatment
12.5ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
2026 average: 3.3 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 12.5 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 25 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 3.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 14.6 ppb, in 2017.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
Forms or is added in treatment
4.0ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
2026 average: 1.1 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 4.0 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 8.0 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 1.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 6.6 ppb, in 2018.
What handles it
No certification claim covers this compound yet.
Fluoride
Forms or is added in treatment
0.18ppm
Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2026
2026 average: 0.17 ppm
Averaged by year, the highest was 0.18 ppm, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.25 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.17 ppm.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Fluoride Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Fluoride”
Nitrate
Comes from the source
0.22ppm
Highest sample; found in 5 of 16
2026: not found
The highest sample, in 2021, was 0.22 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.22 ppm, in 2017.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
33 compounds tested and not foundIncluding all six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 rule. Below the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
From routine monitoring
- Arsenic
- Chromium (total)
- Lead
PFAS and lithium, from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling
- 11Cl-PF3OUdS
- 4:2 FTS
- 6:2 FTS
- 8:2 FTS
- 9Cl-PF3ONS
- ADONA
- HFPO-DA (GenX)
- Lithium
- NEtFOSAA
- NFDHA
- NMeFOSAA
- PFBA
- PFBS
- PFDA
- PFDoA
- PFEESA
- PFHpA
- PFHpS
- PFHxA
- PFHxS
- PFMBA
- PFMPA
- PFNA
- PFOA
- PFOS
- PFPeA
- PFPeS
- PFTA
- PFTrDA
- PFUnA
Hardness
Moderately hard, 104 mg/L (6.1 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2016 to 2026.
Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.
Disinfectant
City of Ashford Water Works reported disinfecting with chlorine, not chloramine, at all 2 of its sampling points, in its 2025 sampling for EPA.
Chlorine leaves water that sits out for a few days, CDC says. A filter certified for it carries a chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 42; a shower filter, a free chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 177. This is what the utility reported for that sampling. Its annual water quality report says what it uses now.
Violations since 2016
No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 4 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.
What this report can’t tell you
Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, nitrate, arsenic and chromium (total) results here are Alabama’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Ashford Water Works’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has the contaminants this page does not show.
Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.
What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.
Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 samples are from Feb. 18, 2025 to July 30, 2025; Alabama’s results run from April 6, 2020 to Aug. 26, 2026.
Testing your own tap
The 2 labs Alabama certifies closest to the area City of Ashford Water Works serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Houston County Regional Water Lab
Dothan, AL · about 11 miles
Certified for bacteria
Polyenvironmental Corporation
Dothan, AL · about 12 miles
Certified for bacteria
Alabama Department of Public Health: Bacteria testing for private wells. Call your county health department to have an environmentalist collect the sample, or collect it yourself in a container from the county health department; there may be a collection fee and a testing fee. Well Water, Alabama Department of Public Health.
All 64 certified labs for AlabamaSources
- EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, file of Oct. 15, 2026
- EPA SDWA bulk download (SDWIS federal data), 2026 Q3
- Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Drinking Water Branch, results from Jan. 6, 2020 to Oct. 8, 2026, read Oct. 17, 2026
- EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, file of Feb. 5, 2024
- Disinfectant: EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, additional data elements, file of Oct. 15, 2026
- Certified labs: ADEM, certified bacteriological, chemical and PFAS drinking water laboratories, read Oct. 17, 2026; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer
- Hardness: Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Drinking Water Branch, results from April 18, 2016 to June 24, 2026, read Oct. 17, 2026
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID AL0000671. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.
What to do next
- Nothing here is above a health goalIn EPA’s and Alabama’s records for this utility. They don’t cover everything, which is why the next step matters.Every contaminant TapBuff tracks
- Get the utility’s own reportCity of Ashford Water Works must send you a water quality report every year. It covers contaminants this page does not show.How to read it
- Test your own tap for leadYour service line, solder and fixtures decide the lead at your faucet, not the utility’s average.Lead in your water: what to do
- Decide if you want a filter at allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded