Basic Groundwater Treatment: Alabama Grade II Fundamentals
Alabama has no Grade I water treatment class — Grade II is the entry-level water treatment license, covering "basic groundwater treatment plants" under ADEM Admin. Code 335-10-1-.03. A basic groundwater plant treats water pumped from a well or spring using some combination of corrosion control, disinfection, pressure filtration, and/or fluoridation. Most of Alabama's public water systems by count draw from groundwater, so this is the license most Alabama operators start with.
Why groundwater is different from surface water
Groundwater is naturally filtered as it moves through soil and rock, so it usually arrives at the wellhead with low turbidity and few pathogens compared to a river or lake. That does not mean it is treatment-free: groundwater can carry dissolved minerals (hardness, iron, manganese), low pH/alkalinity