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Town of Margaret, 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
8,070 people
Connections
2,690
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Margaret, AL
County
St. Clair
Owner
Local government
The 2 ZIP codes it serves

35112, 35120

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from Feb. 4, 2025 to Dec. 1, 2025.

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2008 to 2023.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Alabama’s own results, samples taken from Aug. 17, 2020 to Aug. 3, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

PFAS: PFBS was found, of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule; its result is below. Three other PFAS with no federal limit were found, the highest PFPeA at 17.2 ppt: see them below.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 4 ppt
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 4 ppt
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyBelow EPA’s limits23.8 ppt highest, found in 6 of 8 samples. Details
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 health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.0ppb

90th percentile, 2021 to 2023

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

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

32.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 32.5 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 37.8 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 28.7 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

Below EPA’s limits

21.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 13 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 21.1 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 30.7 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 13 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 16.5 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

PFBS

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

23.8ppt

Highest sample, Aug. 6, 2025; found in 6 of 8

The highest sample was 23.8 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
PFPeA17.2 ppt5 of 8None covers it
PFBA9.2 ppt2 of 8None covers it
PFHxA6.5 ppt2 of 8None covers it
26 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 4:2 FTS
  • 6:2 FTS
  • 8:2 FTS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • Lithium
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • PFOS
  • 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.”

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 lead, ranked

Disinfectant

Town of Margaret, the Wwb of the 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 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.

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. Town of Margaret, 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 Feb. 4, 2025 to Dec. 1, 2025; Alabama’s results run from Aug. 17, 2020 to Aug. 3, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Town of Margaret, 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 Town of Margaret, the Wwb of the 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 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (205) 699-6647

  • Sutherland Environmental Testing Laboratory

    Birmingham, AL · about 24 miles

    (205) 581-9500

  • Living Water Services

    Alabaster, AL · about 38 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 AL0001199. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in St. Clair County

All Alabama utilities

What to do next