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Talladega County Water Department

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
4,749 people
Connections
1,583
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Talladega, AL
County
Talladega
Owner
Local government
The 3 ZIP codes it serves

35014, 35044, 35160

The short answer

2 results are above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029. The worst: PFOS, above EPA’s new limit (2029). No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from March 26, 2025 to Dec. 2, 2025.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): Alabama’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 19, 2020 to Aug. 19, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

PFAS: PFOS, PFOA and PFBS were found, of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule; their results are below. Four other PFAS with no federal limit were found, the highest PFPeA at 21.1 ppt: see them below.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptAbove EPA’s new limit (2029)9.3 ppt highest, found in 1 of 2 samples. Details
PFOS4.0 pptAbove EPA’s new limit (2029)10.5 ppt highest, found in 1 of 2 samples. Details
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 2 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 2 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 2 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyBelow EPA’s limits47.7 ppt highest, found in 2 of 2 samples. Details
Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together1Not worked outNo sampling location has a full set of samples to work it out
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.

About PFAS certifications

NSF’s PFAS claims are tested to below 20 ppt. EPA’s limit is 4.0 ppt, and EPA says no certification yet shows a filter reaching its levels.

Above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 20292

PFOS

Comes from the source

Above EPA’s new limit (2029)

10.5ppt

Highest sample, Dec. 2, 2025; found in 1 of 2

The highest sample was 10.5 ppt, about 2.6 times EPA’s new limit of 4.0 ppt, which takes effect in 2029. EPA’s health goal is zero. Compliance will be judged on a running annual average, not one sample. No sampling location here has the full set of samples EPA averages to compare with the limit.

What handles it

PFOA

Comes from the source

Above EPA’s new limit (2029)

9.3ppt

Highest sample, Dec. 2, 2025; found in 1 of 2

The highest sample was 9.3 ppt, about 2.3 times EPA’s new limit of 4.0 ppt, which takes effect in 2029. EPA’s health goal is zero. Compliance will be judged on a running annual average, not one sample. No sampling location here has the full set of samples EPA averages to compare with the limit.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

40.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 11.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 40.8 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 78 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 11.5 ppb. EPA recorded no violation for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 30.5 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

42.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 24.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 42.5 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 61 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 24.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 38.7 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

PFBS

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

47.7ppt

Highest sample, Dec. 2, 2025; found in 2 of 2

The highest sample was 47.7 ppt, below EPA’s hazard index benchmark of 2,000 ppt. PFBS has no legal limit or health goal of its own.

What handles it

Alabama utilities above EPA’s PFAS limits

Also found, with no federal limit

EPA measured these PFAS to learn how often they occur. None has a legal limit or a health goal yet.

CompoundHighest sampleFound inCertification claim
PFPeA21.1 ppt2 of 2None covers it
PFHxA12.5 ppt2 of 2None covers it
PFBA7.8 ppt2 of 2None covers it
PFHpA4.1 ppt1 of 2NSF/ANSI 53: Total PFAS Reduction
24 compounds tested and not foundBelow 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
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • 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: PFOS Reduction, PFOA Reduction

    For: PFOS, PFOA

    Other certifiers’ wording: Total PFAS Reduction; Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS); Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS), Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)

    For: PFOS, PFOA

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. 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 PFAS, ranked

Disinfectant

Talladega County Water Department reported disinfecting with chlorine, not chloramine, at its one sampling point, in its 2025 sampling for EPA. It also reported chlorine dioxide.

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.

Chlorine vs. chloramineShower filters, by what their listings cover

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. Haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are Alabama’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Talladega County Water Department’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 26, 2025 to Dec. 2, 2025; Alabama’s results run from Feb. 19, 2020 to Aug. 19, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Talladega County Water Department’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 Talladega County Water Department serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Guardian Systems

    Leeds, AL · about 24 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (205) 699-6647

  • Alexander City Sugar Creek Laboratory

    Alexander City, AL · about 32 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (256) 409-2031

  • Living Water Services

    Alabaster, AL · about 33 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (205) 985-2113

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 AL0001685. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Talladega County

All Alabama utilities

What to do next