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Is Oxford, AL tap water safe?

4 utilities serve Oxford, 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 4 utilities serving Oxford has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Alabama’s records: Oxford Water Works & Sewer Board.

Oxford Water Works & Sewer Board, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029 and 1 result above the health goal. The worst: PFOS at 6.1 ppt, above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029.

The water from Oxford Water Works & Sewer Board is hard, 142 mg/L (8.3 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 Oxford’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Oxford Water Works & Sewer Board’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Oxford

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 Oxford, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Guardian Systems

    Leeds, AL · about 41 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (205) 699-6647

  • Alexander City Sugar Creek Laboratory

    Alexander City, AL · about 49 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (256) 409-2031

  • Albertville Bacteriological laboratory

    Albertville, AL · about 52 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (256) 878-3762

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 Oxford

Which ZIP codes are in Oxford: 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 Oxford

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

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