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City of Brewton, the Wwb of the

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
11,430 people
Connections
3,810
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Brewton, AL
County
Escambia
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Moderately hard
The 2 ZIP codes it serves

36426, 36427

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, 2 more are above the health goal, and 1 more is above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Fluoride, above the legal limit. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from March 6, 2023 to July 22, 2024.

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2001 to 2022.

Fluoride, arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate and chromium (total): Alabama’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 29, 2020 to Sept. 10, 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

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 4 ppt
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 4 ppt
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 3 ppt
Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together1Doesn’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.

Above the legal limit1

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

2.2ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.97 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.2 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 7.1 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 0.97 ppm. EPA judges this limit at each sampling point, and recorded a violation for fluoride at this utility in 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.3 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.0ppb

90th percentile, 2020 to 2022

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.0 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.75ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.75 ppb, in 2020: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 1.5 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Above EPA’s health benchmark1

Lithium

Comes from the source

Above EPA’s health benchmark

20.5ppb

Highest sample, March 7, 2023; found in 8 of 12

The highest sample was 20.5 ppb, about twice EPA’s health reference level of 10 ppb. That is a screening level, not an enforceable limit.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

14.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 1.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 14.5 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 15 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 1.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 7.2 ppb, in 2018.

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

Below EPA’s limits

5.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.2 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 7.8 ppb. 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 yearly average of 20.1 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.24ppm

Highest sample; found in 7 of 45

2026 average: 0.011 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.24 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 0.011 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.21 ppm, in 2014.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
Alabama utilities above EPA’s PFAS limits
30 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

  • Chromium (total)

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)
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFBA
  • PFBS
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxA
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • PFOS
  • PFPeA
  • PFPeS
  • PFTA
  • PFTrDA
  • PFUnA

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: Fluoride, Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Fluoride, Lead, Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Fluoride Reduction, Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Fluoride, Lead, Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for fluoride, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Moderately hard, 103 mg/L (6 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.

Softeners compared at 6 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Alabama water hardness, utility by utility

Disinfectant

City of Brewton, the Wwb of the reported disinfecting with chlorine, not chloramine, at all 6 of its sampling points, in its 2023 to 2024 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.

Chlorine vs. chloramineShower filters, by what their listings cover

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
FluorideA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleApril 1, 2020 to June 30, 20207.1 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 89 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Fluoride, arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate and chromium (total) results here are Alabama’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Brewton, the Wwb of the’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 March 6, 2023 to July 22, 2024; Alabama’s results run from Jan. 29, 2020 to Sept. 10, 2026.

Testing your own tap

City of Brewton, the Wwb of the’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Alabama certifies.

The 3 labs Alabama certifies closest to the area City of Brewton, the Wwb of the serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

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 Alabama

Sources

PWSID AL0000555. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Escambia County

All Alabama utilities

What to do next