Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water, AL
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2023-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water at a glance
Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water serves about 5,760 people through 1,920 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Etowah County, Alabama. EPA system ID: AL0000575. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2022 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water is 5 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 5 ppb |
How Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water compares
Of the 542 Alabama systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 1 are over 15 ppb right now and 11 have gone over at some point. Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 34th percentile in Alabama and the 35th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
16 other systems share Etowah County; 7 of them have a higher latest lead result than Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Gadsden, The Wwsb Of The City Of | 44,637 | 2.5 ppb |
| Rainbow City, The Utilities Board Of | 12,633 | 0 (not detected) |
| Southside Water Works And Sewer Board | 12,327 | 1.3 ppb |
| Attalla Water Works Board | 8,403 | 1.4 ppb |
| West Etowah Water & Fire Pro Authority | 6,900 | 0 (not detected) |
| Glencoe Water Works Board | 6,465 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hokes Bluff Water Board | 5,536 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sardis City Water Board | 5,463 | 1.1 ppb |
| Northeast Etowah County Water Co-Op | 4,380 | 0 (not detected) |
| Highland Water Authority | 4,014 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Piedmont, AL
Look up your address in Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.