Mobile County, Alabama: drinking water report. Mobile County serves about 410,000 residents on Alabama's Gulf Coast.
Mobile County serves about 410,000 residents on Alabama's Gulf Coast. The Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS) draws from Big Creek Lake, a reservoir about 40 miles north of the city. The county's coastal location and industrial port operations create a unique environmental context for water quality.
Big Creek Lake provides a relatively clean source, located in a rural watershed with limited industrial activity. UCMR5 data shows low-level PFAS detections in the MAWSS system. The county's industrial landscape – including the Port of Mobile, Brookley Aeroplex (former Brookley Air Force Base), and chemical manufacturing – creates potential contamination pathways.
According to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management's 2024 compliance data, MAWSS met all federal standards. Mobile's tropical climate means warm source water temperatures that increase disinfection byproduct formation potential, similar to other Gulf Coast utilities.
Mobile's reservoir supply is cleaner at the source than most Gulf Coast river intakes. The treatment system handles seasonal variability well.
Check your water for current data in your area. A carbon filter addresses taste and DBPs. For PFAS, reverse osmosis goes further. Our water filter guide covers options. Pull your detailed report, and visit our Alabama page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Mobile County, AL.
The EPA places Mobile County, AL in Zone 3 - the EPA's lowest-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level below 2 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
52% of homes in Mobile County, AL were built before 1980, and 8% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Mobile County, AL averages 9.2 µg/m³, above the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
14 public water systems serving Mobile County, AL have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 4 water systems serving Mobile County, AL carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) | 3 |
| Lead and Copper Rule Revisions | 1 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.