Cahaba Water Co.
Eleven towns. Five different water systems.
Almost every water company in this metro writes as though Central Alabama Water (formerly Birmingham Water Works) serves everybody. Five utilities share this map. Pelham, Alabaster and Trussville pull from wells in limestone, and the well water runs hard year round. Central Alabama Water pulls from rivers and lakes, and its 2026 report spans 2.2 to 13.1 grains — hardness there varies by source and location. Which one serves you shapes what you need. Find your utility below.
Two kinds of water, two different problems.
Where your utility gets its water predicts the problem you are most likely to have. There are essentially two answers in this part of Alabama, and they call for different equipment.
Surface water
Rivers and lakes. Central Alabama Water draws entirely from these.
Rain and runoff carry organic matter — leaves, algae, sediment — and when chlorine meets organic matter it forms disinfection byproducts. Central Alabama Water's trihalomethanes run 11.4 to 26.0 ppb against a federal limit of 80. Taste and odor complaints here are usually chlorine, or geosmin from seasonal algae.
Hardness is the variable. The 2026 report spans 2.2 to 13.1 gpg across the system — slightly hard on one reading, very hard on another, by source and by location. Two addresses on the same utility can be two different jobs.
Carbon and reverse osmosis handle the byproducts. Whether softening belongs in the same house is what the test answers.
Groundwater
Wells. Trussville, and much of Pelham and Alabaster.
Water held in limestone and dolomite dissolves the rock it sits in, for a very long time. It arrives hard and stays hard — Trussville publishes 8.9 gpg system-wide, Pelham's wells as high as 11.9. Organic matter is scarce, so there is little for chlorine to react with: Trussville's trihalomethanes run ND to 7.5 ppb, below the lowest figure Central Alabama Water published.
Softening earns its place here more often than it does on surface water. Scale is the usual complaint, ahead of taste.
Source predicts the problem. A test sizes it. A water softener isn't automatic in Birmingham. Hardness varies by water source and location — Central Alabama Water alone publishes 2.2 to 13.1 grains — so we test your home's water before recommending one. If the number is low, we'll tell you. If the hardness level and your goals justify softening, we size the system accordingly. That is why we ask which utility serves you first, and measure your tap second.
What your utility publishes.
Every figure below comes from that utility's own annual water quality report, and we have read each one. The Central Alabama Water figures are from its 2026 Annual Water Quality Report (2025 monitoring data). Where a report is still out of reach, the row says so.
| Your water comes from | Source | Total hardness | In grains | What that means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Alabama Water Birmingham, Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Hoover, Gardendale |
Surface | 38–224 mg/L | 2.2–13.1 | Slightly hard at one end of the system, very hard at the other. Test before you decide. |
| Trussville Gas & Water Trussville |
8 wells | 152 mg/L | 8.9 | Hard, system-wide. Softening is a real conversation. |
| Pelham Water Works Pelham, Indian Springs Village |
5 wells + purchased | 75 and 204 mg/L | 4.4 and 11.9 | Two sources, two answers. Yours depends on your address. |
| Alabaster Water Board Alabaster |
3 wells + 3 purchased | 195 / 86 / 95 mg/L | 11.4 / 5.0 / 5.6 | The wells are very hard. The purchased water is moderate. |
| Bessemer — Warrior River Water Authority Bessemer |
Warrior River | Report not yet in hand | We publish figures we have read. See below. | |
| A private well Outside any municipal system |
Your own | No published data | Testing is yours to do. Start with a lab result. | |
About Bessemer. We install there regularly. The Warrior River Water Authority's consumer confidence report is one we are still working to obtain — the figures circulating online trace back to water-filter companies quoting each other rather than to the utility. We have requested a copy directly, and we'll publish it here once we have read it. Until then, a Bessemer job starts with a test at your tap, which is where we like to start anyway.
Three rings, and they aren't the same job.
How far we drive depends on what we are driving out to do. A filter change belongs close to home. A whole-home build with storage earns the longer trip.
About 30 minutes — everyday work
Under-sink reverse osmosis, filter changes, service calls. Anything we might need to come back to on short notice.
Birmingham, Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Hoover, Pelham, Indian Springs, Alabaster, Bessemer, Gardendale, Trussville, and everything in between.
Up to 45 minutes — whole-home systems
Whole-house treatment: carbon, softening where hardness justifies it, UV where storage makes it appropriate. A bigger install, and worth the drive.
Wider Shelby County, Blount County, St. Clair County, Helena, Chelsea, Leeds, Moody.
One to two hours — whole-home plus storage
Full treatment and water storage on a property that needs both. Usually a private well, usually no municipal backup, often not somewhere you can get a plumber on a Sunday.
Smith Lake, Lake Martin, Lake Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa, Cullman, Prattville, and hunting and recreational properties across the region. More on that work.
These are guidelines, not a fence. If you're outside them and the project makes sense, call and ask. We'll give you a straight answer on whether the drive works for the job, and a price built on the work rather than the mileage.
Not sure which system serves you?
Your utility's name is printed on your water bill. Tell us what it says and we'll tell you what that utility publishes — then we test your tap, and talk about equipment after that.