Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Sauk Village

What EPA’s and Illinois’s records show in this utility’s water: PFAS and lithium; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
9,921 people
Connections
3,200
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Sauk, IL
County
Cook
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

60411

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal, and 1 more is above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium, above EPA’s health benchmark. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from May 20, 2025 to Nov. 18, 2025.

Arsenic, fluoride, chromium (total), haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and nitrate: Illinois’s own results, samples taken from Aug. 4, 2020 to Aug. 3, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

PFAS: None of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule was found in this utility’s samples. One other PFAS with no federal limit was found, the highest 4:2 FTS at 3.2 ppt: see it below.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 4 ppt
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 4 ppt
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 3 ppt
Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together1Doesn’t applyDoesn’t apply: no sampling location found two or more of the four
Results from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling. “Below” is the lab’s reporting level: a result under it reads as not found, which is not the same as zero. The limits are EPA’s 2024 rule, with compliance due from 2029; EPA has since proposed changes to some of them, explained on each compound’s page. PFBS has no limit of its own and counts only toward the Hazard Index, which adds up the four, each against EPA’s health-based level, from each sampling location’s average, as EPA’s UCMR 5 summary does. It counts only where two or more of the four were found, and is above the limit from 1.5.

Above the health goal1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025 average: 0.65 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 ppb, in 2024: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.65 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.4 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Above EPA’s health benchmark1

Lithium

Comes from the source

Above EPA’s health benchmark

90.2ppb

Highest sample, Nov. 17, 2025; found in 4 of 4

The highest sample was 90.2 ppb, about 9 times EPA’s health reference level of 10 ppb. That is a screening level, not an enforceable limit.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Below EPA’s limits5

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.2ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.2 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.1 ppm, in 2014.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

5.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025 average: 1.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.7 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 1.4 ppb.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

2.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.6 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 3.0 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

2.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.9 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 3.4 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.2 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.11ppm

Highest sample; found in 1 of 12

2026 average: 0.056 ppm

The highest sample, in 2026, was 0.11 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its two samples averaged 0.056 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.12 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
Illinois utilities above EPA’s PFAS limits

Also found, with no federal limit

EPA measured these PFAS to learn how often they occur. None has a legal limit or a health goal yet.

CompoundHighest sampleFound inCertification claim
4:2 FTS3.2 ppt1 of 4None covers it
29 compounds tested and not foundIncluding all six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 rule. Below the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.

From routine monitoring

  • Lead

PFAS and lithium, from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling

  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 6:2 FTS
  • 8:2 FTS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFBA
  • PFBS
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxA
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • PFOS
  • PFPeA
  • PFPeS
  • PFTA
  • PFTrDA
  • PFUnA

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, typically 636 mg/L (37.2 grains per gallon), across 3 sampling points, 2017 to 2023.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 37.2 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Illinois water hardness, utility by utility

Disinfectant

Sauk Village reported disinfecting with chlorine, not chloramine, at all 2 of its sampling points, in its 2025 sampling for EPA.

Chlorine leaves water that sits out for a few days, CDC says. A filter certified for it carries a chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 42; a shower filter, a free chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 177. This is what the utility reported for that sampling. Its annual water quality report says what it uses now.

Chlorine vs. chloramineShower filters, by what their listings cover

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 164 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, fluoride, chromium (total), haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and nitrate results here are Illinois’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Sauk Village’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 samples are from May 20, 2025 to Nov. 18, 2025; Illinois’s results run from Aug. 4, 2020 to Aug. 3, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Sauk Village’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Illinois certifies.

The 3 labs Illinois certifies closest to the area Sauk Village serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Microbac Laboratories, Inc.

    Merrillville, IN · about 13 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (219) 769-8378

  • Will County Health Department

    Joliet, IL · about 23 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (815) 727-8517

  • ETP Labs, Inc.

    Willowbrook, IL · about 24 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (630) 891-3392

Illinois Department of Public Health: Coliform bacteria and nitrate testing for private wells, with sample bottles from your local health department, or from the department's nearest regional office where there is none. You mail the sample to the lab, and results come back through the health department. Well Sampling for Coliform & Nitrate, Illinois Department of Public Health.

All 30 certified labs for Illinois

Sources

PWSID IL0312790. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Cook County

All Illinois utilities

What to do next