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521 Alabama water systems have inventoried 2,279,909 service lines for EPA. 14,083 (0.6%) are confirmed lead and 192,508 (8.4%) are still of unknown material. Below: every large or city-linked Alabama utility ranked by lead lines.
Alabama water systems reported 14,083 lead service lines and 55,147 galvanized lines requiring replacement as of Q2 2026 — 0.6% of the 2,279,909 lines inventoried and 0.6% of the national lead total, ranking #20 of 51. CENTRAL ALABAMA WATER SYSTEM reports the most in the state (12,350).
CENTRAL ALABAMA WATER SYSTEM (12,350), GADSDEN, THE WWSB OF THE CITY OF (8), FLORENCE WATER DEPARTMENT, CITY OF (2) lead the list; 22 Alabama systems report at least one lead line in total.
Find your utility in the table below, then check its published service line inventory (most utilities post an address-lookup map) or call the number on your water bill. Utilities must notify customers whose line is lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement or unknown. You can also test the pipe entering your home: lead is soft, dull gray, non-magnetic and turns shiny when scratched.
Under EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, systems must replace lead and galvanized-requiring-replacement lines within 10 years starting in 2027; systems with very high counts can receive longer deadlines. Ask your utility for its replacement plan and whether it covers the homeowner-owned portion.
Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead for drinking and cooking, flush the tap after water has sat for hours, never use hot tap water for drinking or infant formula, and confirm your actual level with a certified lab test.
Source: EPA SDWIS Service Line Inventory, Q2 2026 snapshot (updated 2026-08-18). Counts are service lines, not people.
517 of the 521 Alabama systems in EPA's Q2 2026 report have filed line counts. The 14,083 confirmed lead lines and 55,147 galvanized lines requiring replacement come from 22 systems — 4.3% of those reporting — so lead pipe in Alabama is concentrated in a small share of systems. 192,508 lines (8.4%) are still of unknown material, below the national share of 22%.
Treat "unknown" as the operative number. Under EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR), every community water system had to submit an initial service line inventory by October 16, 2024, and lines whose material could not be documented were reported as unknown. The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), finalized in October 2024, require systems to keep identifying those lines, to notify customers served by a lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement or unknown line, and to replace lead and galvanized-requiring-replacement lines — generally within 10 years of the rule's November 1, 2027 compliance date. The LCRI also lowers the lead action level from 15 to 10 ppb. For Alabama, that makes the 192,508 unknown lines (8.4%) the pool from which future confirmed-lead counts will be drawn.
Among the 22 Alabama utilities linked to a city report on this site, 13 report at least one lead or galvanized-requiring-replacement line, 2 report none but still have a quarter or more of their lines unverified, and 7 report no lead with most lines verified. The largest — CENTRAL ALABAMA WATER SYSTEM (585,000 served), HUNTSVILLE UTILITIES WATER DEPT. (310,107 served), and MOBILE, BD. OF W&S COMM. OF THE CITY OF (279,000 served) — report 12,350 lead + 18 GRR, 0 lead + 1 GRR, and 0% unknown respectively.
To check your own line, start with your utility: most Alabama systems publish their inventory as an address-lookup map or table, and the annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) names the system and its lead results. If your address shows lead, galvanized or unknown, the utility is required to have notified you; if you cannot find it, ask for the service line material on record. You can also inspect the pipe where it enters the house — lead is dull gray, soft enough to scratch shiny with a coin, and does not attract a magnet.
EPA's rule text and timelines are on its Lead and Copper Rule Improvements page. While your line is unverified, our best water filters for lead guide covers NSF/ANSI 53-certified options, and the lead in drinking water guide explains testing and health thresholds.
EPA SDWIS Service Line Inventory, Q2 2026 snapshot (updated 2026-08-18); regulatory dates from EPA's LCRR/LCRI pages.
Community systems serving 50,000+ people plus systems linked to a city report on this site (28 shown). State totals above include every reporting system.
| # | Water system | Status | Lead | GRR | Unknown | Total lines | City report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CENTRAL ALABAMA WATER SYSTEM AL0000738 · 585,000 served | Lead service lines present | 12,350 | 18 | 36,839 | 232,850 | Birmingham → |
| 2 | GADSDEN, THE WWSB OF THE CITY OF AL0000577 · 44,637 served | Lead service lines present | 8 | 12,496 | 0 | 15,561 | Gadsden → |
| 3 | FLORENCE WATER DEPARTMENT, CITY OF AL0000783 · 77,766 served | Lead service lines present | 2 | 3,882 | 17,542 | 27,315 | Florence → |
| 4 | DECATUR, MUNICIPAL UB OF AL0001084 · 77,103 served | Lead service lines present | 1 | 8,882 | 0 | 28,028 | Decatur → |
| 5 | BESSEMER WATER SERVICE AL0000737 · 86,091 served | Many lines still unverified | 0 | 0 | 23,843 | 35,913 | Bessemer → |
| 6 | PHENIX CITY UTILITIES AL0001142 · 42,267 served | Many lines still unverified | 0 | 0 | 11,668 | 17,089 | Phenix City → |
| 7 | FAIRHOPE, CITY OF AL0000035 · 59,850 served | Many lines still unverified | 0 | 0 | 6,730 | 20,580 | |
| 8 | LIMESTONE COUNTY WATER & SEWER AUTH. AL0000833 · 90,900 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 5,494 | 31,352 | |
| 9 | PRICHARD WATER WORKS BOARD AL0001015 · 29,190 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 6 | 2,315 | 10,888 | Prichard → |
| 10 | ATHENS,THE WATER WORKS BD OF THE CITY OF AL0000824 · 43,431 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 510 | 1,908 | 13,427 | Athens → |
| 11 | FOLEY, UTILITIES BOARD OF THE CITY OF AL0000036 · 50,919 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 84 | 17,742 | |
| 12 | PRATTVILLE, THE WW BOARD OF THE CITY OF AL0000017 · 46,614 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 284 | 33 | 18,018 | Prattville → |
| 13 | ENTERPRISE, THE WWB OF THE CITY OF AL0000296 · 48,000 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 4,473 | 4 | 19,413 | Enterprise → |
| 14 | HUNTSVILLE UTILITIES WATER DEPT. AL0000882 · 310,107 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 1 | 0 | 106,348 | Huntsville → |
| 15 | MOBILE, BD. OF W&S COMM. OF THE CITY OF AL0001005 · 279,000 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 94,604 | Mobile → |
| 16 | MONTGOMERY WW&SSB, CITY OF AL0001070 · 276,000 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85,236 | Montgomery → |
| 17 | TUSCALOOSA WATER & SEWER AL0001313 · 166,524 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 14 | 0 | 55,508 | Tuscaloosa → |
| 18 | MADISON COUNTY WATER DEPARTMENT AL0000888 · 119,100 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42,630 | |
| 19 | DOTHAN UTILITIES, CITY OF AL0000681 · 97,146 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38,841 | Dothan → |
| 20 | AUBURN, THE WW BOARD OF THE CITY OF AL0000804 · 74,292 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26,665 | Auburn → |
| 21 | ANNISTON ALABAMA, THE WWSB OF THE CITY O AL0000133 · 56,646 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23,523 | Anniston → |
| 22 | CULLMAN COUNTY WATER DEPARTMENT AL0000394 · 56,628 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18,730 | |
| 23 | OPELIKA, WW BD. OF THE CITY OF AL0000816 · 56,520 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17,750 | Opelika → |
| 24 | MADISON, THE W & WW BOARD OF THE CITY OF AL0000885 · 54,114 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19,452 | Madison → |
| 25 | HARVEST-MONROVIA W,S, AND FP, INC. AL0000878 · 51,915 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21,002 | |
| 26 | ALABASTER WATER DEPARTMENT, CITY OF AL0001148 · 40,986 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14,543 | Alabaster → |
| 27 | NORTHPORT WATER WORKS, CITY OF AL0001307 · 40,551 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 68 | 0 | 15,400 | Northport → |
| 28 | DAPHNE, UTILITIES BOARD OF THE CITY OF AL0000029 · 33,372 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11,005 | Daphne → |
A lead or unknown service line means lead can enter water after it leaves the treatment plant, so city-level test results understate what reaches your tap. Filter drinking and cooking water with an NSF/ANSI 53 lead-certified system, and see the lead in drinking water guide or Alabama city water reports.
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