Houston County, Alabama: drinking water report. Houston County in southeastern Alabama has about 106,000 residents, with Dothan as the county seat.
Houston County in southeastern Alabama has about 106,000 residents, with Dothan as the county seat. The county draws from the Floridan Aquifer and other deep groundwater sources. Fort Novosel (formerly Fort Rucker) – the Army's primary aviation training installation – occupies a large area in adjacent Dale County but influences Houston County's water landscape through shared aquifer systems and the county's role as Dothan's primary population center.
Fort Novosel has confirmed PFAS contamination from decades of AFFF use at helicopter crash training sites and fire training areas. According to the Army's 2024 environmental investigation, monitoring wells at the installation show PFOS at 120 ppt – significantly above the federal MCL. The contamination plume has migrated off-base in multiple directions.
Houston County's deep municipal wells draw from zones below the primary contamination, but the aquifer connectivity in the region means long-term migration is possible. A 2024 ADEM investigation found PFAS at 8 ppt in one Dothan water system monitoring point – below federal MCLs but indicating that PFAS from regional sources is reaching the deeper aquifer.
Houston County's deep well supply has been largely protected from the Fort Novosel contamination so far, but the trend bears watching. Private well owners in the western part of the county, closer to the base, face higher exposure risk.
Check your water for the latest data. For PFAS at any detected level, reverse osmosis provides the highest household removal rate. Our water filter guide covers systems with certified PFAS performance. Get your detailed report for trends, and visit our Alabama page for statewide context.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Houston County, AL.
The EPA places Houston County, AL in Zone 3 - the EPA's lowest-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level below 2 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
44% of homes in Houston County, AL were built before 1980, and 7% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Houston County, AL averages 9.2 µg/m³, above the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide