Fruitdale Water System, AL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.6 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
Who runs the water here
Fruitdale Water System serves about 1,809 people through 603 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Washington County, Alabama. EPA system ID: AL0001360. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Fruitdale Water System's lead record
Against the period ending 2020 (1.3 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Fruitdale Water System is 5 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2017 | 5 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Fruitdale Water System's 1.6 ppb sits at the 80th percentile in Alabama and the 65th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Washington County
10 other systems share Washington County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Fruitdale Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Mcintosh Water & Fire Pro Authority | 3,060 | 0 (not detected) |
| Washington County Water Authority | 2,445 | 1.5 ppb |
| Millry, The Ub Of The Town Of | 2,217 | 2.7 ppb |
| Chatom, The Utilities Board Of The Town | 2,037 | 0 (not detected) |
| Leroy Water Authority | 1,710 | 0 (not detected) |
| Tibbie Water & Fire Protection Authority | 1,539 | 1.5 ppb |
| Deer Park-Vinegar Bend Water & Fpa | 1,467 | 1.1 ppb |
| Frankville Water & Fire Pro Authority | 945 | 0 (not detected) |
| St Stephens Water System | 735 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hobson Water System | 663 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Fruitdale, AL may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Fruitdale Water System 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.