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Is Cottondale, AL tap water safe?

2 utilities serve Cottondale, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Alabama’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

1 of the 2 utilities serving Cottondale has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Alabama’s records: Tuscaloosa Water & Sewer.

Tuscaloosa Water & Sewer, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the legal limit. The worst: Haloacetic acids (HAA5) at 38.1 ppb, above the legal limit.

The water from Tuscaloosa Water & Sewer is soft, 36 mg/L (2.1 grains per gallon). How Alabama’s water compares.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Cottondale’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

Water testing near Cottondale

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Alabama certifies.

The 3 labs Alabama certifies closest to Cottondale, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Pace Analytical Services

    Tuscaloosa, AL · about 10 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (205) 345-0816

  • Safety Environmental Services

    Pelham, AL · about 31 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (205) 823-6200

  • Living Water Services

    Alabaster, AL · about 37 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

ZIP codes in Cottondale

Which ZIP codes are in Cottondale: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: ADEM, certified bacteriological, chemical and PFAS drinking water laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Cottondale

Other towns in Tuscaloosa County with a page of their own.

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