How many public water systems are in Alabama?

Alabama has 576 active public water systems in EPA SDWIS records, including 505 community water systems. Together they report serving 6.4M people.

What is the largest water system in Alabama?

Central Alabama Water System is the largest active public water system in Alabama, serving a reported 585,000 people.

Does Alabama rely more on groundwater or surface water?

60.1% of Alabama's active public water systems draw primarily on groundwater and 39.9% on surface water (including purchased supplies).

Alabama public water systems

576 active systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, serving a reported 6.4M people across 77 counties.

Dataset updated October 2026 . Source: EPA SDWIS/ECHO, refreshed quarterly.

Active systems

576

Population served

6.4M

Community systems

505

Groundwater share

60.1%

System types in Alabama

505

Community water system

Non-transient non-community water system

Transient non-community water system

Largest water systems in Alabama

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The largest active public water systems in Alabama by population served
#	Water system	County	Population served	Type	Source
1	Central Alabama Water System	Jefferson	585,000	Community	Surface water
2	Huntsville Utilities Water Dept.	Madison	310,107	Community	Surface water
3	Mobile, Bd. of W&S Comm. of the City of	Mobile	279,000	Community	Surface water
4	Montgomery Ww&Ssb, City of	Montgomery	276,000	Community	Surface water
5	Tuscaloosa Water & Sewer	Tuscaloosa	166,524	Community	Surface water
6	Madison County Water Department	Madison	119,100	Community	Purchased surface water
7	Dothan Utilities, City of	Houston	97,146	Community	Groundwater
8	Limestone County Water & Sewer Auth.	Limestone	90,900	Community	Surface water
9	Bessemer Water Service	Jefferson	86,091	Community	Purchased surface water
10	Florence Water Department, City of	Lauderdale	77,766	Community	Surface water
11	Decatur, Municipal Ub of	Morgan	77,103	Community	Surface water
12	Auburn, the Ww Board of the City of	Lee	74,292	Community	Surface water
13	Fairhope, City of	Baldwin	59,850	Community	Groundwater
14	Anniston Alabama, the Wwsb of the City O	Calhoun	56,646	Community	Surface water
15	Cullman County Water Department	Cullman	56,628	Community	Purchased surface water
16	Opelika, Ww Bd. of the City of	Lee	56,520	Community	Surface water
17	Madison, the W & Ww Board of the City of	Madison	54,114	Community	Surface water
18	Harvest-Monrovia W,S, and Fp, Inc..	Madison	51,915	Community	Groundwater under influence of surface water
19	Foley, Utilities Board of the City of	Baldwin	50,919	Community	Groundwater
20	Enterprise, the Wwb of the City of	Coffee	48,000	Community	Groundwater
21	Northeast Alabama Water Sewer and Fpd	DeKalb	47,070	Community	Surface water
22	Prattville, the Ww Board of the City of	Autauga	46,614	Community	Purchased surface water
23	Gadsden, the Wwsb of the City of	Etowah	44,637	Community	Surface water
24	Us Army Garrison-Redstone Arsenal	Madison	44,472	Community	Surface water
25	Athens,the Water Works Bd of the City of	Limestone	43,431	Community	Surface water

By county

Baldwin24 systems Etowah17 systems St. Clair17 systems Shelby16 systems Talladega16 systems Dale15 systems Houston15 systems Mobile15 systems Walker15 systems Jefferson14 systems Colbert13 systems Washington13 systems Blount12 systems Covington11 systems Cullman11 systems Barbour10 systems Calhoun10 systems Elmore10 systems Tallapoosa10 systems Tuscaloosa10 systems Escambia9 systems Geneva9 systems Jackson9 systems Madison9 systems Marion9 systems Marshall9 systems Clarke8 systems Coffee8 systems Dallas8 systems Lauderdale8 systems Monroe8 systems Montgomery8 systems Autauga7 systems Lee7 systems Conecuh7 systems Crenshaw7 systems Marengo7 systems Clay6 systems Cleburne6 systems Coosa6 systems DeKalb6 systems Franklin6 systems Henry6 systems Lowndes6 systems Morgan6 systems Randolph6 systems Wilcox6 systems Bibb5 systems Butler5 systems Chambers5 systems Chilton5 systems Choctaw5 systems Fayette5 systems Lamar5 systems Macon5 systems Pickens5 systems Pike5 systems Russell5 systems Winston5 systems Cherokee4 systems Greene4 systems Hale4 systems Lawrence4 systems Limestone4 systems Sumter4 systems Burke4 systems Bullock3 systems Perry3 systems

Appling2 systems

Harrison1 systems

Tishomingo1 systems

Coshocton1 systems

Carbon1 systems

Greenville1 systems

Wayne1 systems

Hardin1 systems

Orange1 systems