Rainbow City, the Utilities Board of
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
- 12,633 people
- Connections
- 4,211
- Water source
- Groundwater bought from another system
- Based in
- Rainbow City, AL
- County
- Etowah
- Owner
- Local government
The ZIP code it serves
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 March 3, 2025 to Sept. 18, 2025.
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Alabama’s own results, samples taken from March 2, 2020 to Sept. 11, 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 2 samples, below 4 ppt |
| PFOS | 4.0 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 2 samples, below 4 ppt |
| PFHxS | 10 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 2 samples, below 3 ppt |
| PFNA | 10 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 2 samples, below 4 ppt |
| HFPO-DA (GenX) | 10 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 2 samples, below 5 ppt |
| PFBS | Index only | Not foundNot found in any of 2 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 limits2
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)
Forms or is added in treatment
9.8ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
2026 average: 0.85 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 9.8 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 37 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its 12 samples averaged 0.85 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 55.9 ppb, in 2012.
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
4.1ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
2026 average: 0.17 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 4.1 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 20 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its 12 samples averaged 0.17 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 33.3 ppb, in 2013.
What handles it
No certification claim covers this compound yet.
31 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
- 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
Disinfectant
Rainbow City, the Utilities Board of reported disinfecting with chlorine, not chloramine, at its one sampling point, 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 utility buys its water from another system, so what it reported may leave out treatment done before the water reaches it. 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 is 1 monitoring or reporting violation: a sample missed, late or not reported.
What this report can’t tell you
Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Alabama’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Rainbow City, the Utilities Board of’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 3, 2025 to Sept. 18, 2025; Alabama’s results run from March 2, 2020 to Sept. 11, 2026.
Testing your own tap
The 3 labs Alabama certifies closest to the area Rainbow City, the Utilities Board of serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Albertville Bacteriological laboratory
Albertville, AL · about 29 miles
Certified for bacteria
Guardian Systems
Leeds, AL · about 38 miles
Certified for bacteria
Sutherland Environmental Testing Laboratory
Birmingham, AL · about 50 miles
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
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID AL0000588. 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 reportRainbow City, the Utilities Board of 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