- Where does Theodore's water come from?
- Mix of MAWSS service near I-10 and Mobile County Water, Sewer & Fire Protection Authority districts further south. Private wells exist on the rural edges — Auburn Extension and ADPH recommend annual coliform/nitrate testing for those. EPA SDWIS classifies the source-water type as surface water — meaning continuous turbidity monitoring and disinfection are the headline treatment requirements.
- Does Theodore tap water have PFAS?
- Yes — the most recent EWG snapshot for MAWSS, the utility serving Theodore, flagged 3 PFAS compounds above EWG's health guideline: PFHXS, PFNA, and PFOA. PFAS pass through standard municipal treatment; the residential answer is a point-of-use reverse-osmosis system or an NSF/ANSI 53-certified activated-carbon block rated for PFOA/PFOS reduction.
- What contaminants are in Theodore's tap water?
- The most recent EWG snapshot for MAWSS (which serves about 279,000 people across Mobile County, including Theodore) flagged 12 contaminants above EWG's health guidelines. The top three by detection prominence: Bromodichloromethane (2.23 ppb, activated-carbon block); Chlorite (452.2 ppb, reverse osmosis); Chloroform (7.57 ppb, activated-carbon block). EWG's guidelines are tighter than EPA's legal limits — being above them is not an EPA violation, but for Theodore households deciding on a residential filter stack, the EWG list is the working signal those products are designed around.
- Is Theodore's water utility (MAWSS) compliant with EPA standards?
- EPA's ECHO database currently shows MAWSS as "In Compliance" under the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA's most recent on-site inspection was recorded 2025-06-26. Compliance does not mean contaminant-free — EWG's health guidelines are tighter than EPA's legal limits — but it does mean the federally-tracked enforcement risk for Theodore customers is low.
- What's the hardness of Theodore water?
- USGS site-level data for Mobile County puts median groundwater hardness at 1.9 gpg (grains per gallon) with a median pH of 6.69 — the groundwater baseline behind every well and utility source in the county. For MAWSS customers in Theodore, the utility's distribution-end hardness can differ from the raw groundwater if the plant softens; the working planning number for sizing a residential softener is the county median plus or minus the figure on the utility's published CCR.
- What's a 100-year storm in Theodore?
- NOAA Atlas 14 puts the 100-year, 24-hour rainfall depth for Theodore at 15.1 inches (90% confidence interval 11.5–19.3 in.). For comparison, the 10-year depth is 8.9 in. and the 25-year depth is 11.2 in. — useful context when sizing sump-pump backup and elevating filtration equipment above expected flood depths.
- How often does Theodore get hurricanes?
- Between 2020 and 2025, NOAA logged 5 named storms touching Mobile County, AL, including Hurricane Sally in 2020 plus 4 additional tropical systems (Cristobal, Zeta, Claudette). Post-storm power outages and boil-water notices are the practical residential exposure in Theodore — a whole-house sediment filter ahead of any softener or RO stage protects the equipment when system pressure returns.
- How old are the homes in Theodore?
- Per the latest American Community Survey, the median year-built for housing in Theodore is 1989. Stock from the 1970s and 80s typically uses copper supply with the older lead-tin solder formulations; a drinking-water filter certified for lead reduction at the kitchen tap is the right-sized fix.
