Southside Water Works And Sewer Board, AL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.3 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2024). 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
Southside Water Works And Sewer Board serves about 12,327 people through 4,109 service connections, which makes it a large 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: AL0000591. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Southside Water Works And Sewer Board's lead record
Against the period ending 2024 (1.2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Southside Water Works And Sewer Board is 5 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2024 | 1.2 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 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. Southside Water Works And Sewer Board's 1.3 ppb sits at the 75th percentile in Alabama and the 61st nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
16 other systems share Etowah County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Southside Water Works And Sewer Board. 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) |
| 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) |
| Fords Valley & Hwy 278 Water | 5,760 | 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) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Southside, 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 Southside Water Works And Sewer Board 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.