Is Benton, IL tap water safe?
The short answer
1 of the 2 utilities serving Benton has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Illinois’s records: Benton.
Benton, which serves the most people here, has nothing above a health goal in EPA’s and Illinois’s records. That data covers what its report lists, not everything.
The water from Benton is soft, 60 mg/L (3.5 grains per gallon). How Illinois’s water compares.
A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Benton’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Benton
Illinois · serves 8,104 people · about 430 in Benton
Nothing in its records is above a health goal. Hardness: soft, 60 mg/L (3.5 grains per gallon).
1 health-based violation since 2016
- Open report
Rend Lake Inter - City Water System
Illinois · serves 3,650 people · under 100 in Benton
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic at 2.2 ppb, above the health goal. Hardness: soft to moderately hard depending on the source, 55 to 73 mg/L (3.2 to 4.3 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Benton
The 3 labs Illinois certifies closest to Benton, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
BAR Laboratory / Brown & Roberts, Inc.
Harrisburg, IL · about 29 miles
Certified for bacteria
Precision Water Lab
Centralia, IL · about 38 miles
Certified for bacteria
Water Lab (EJ Water Coop)
Dieterich, IL · about 74 miles
Certified for bacteria
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 IllinoisZIP codes in Benton
Which ZIP codes are in Benton: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Illinois Department of Public Health, certified water microbiology laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.
Near Benton
Towns nearby with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Benton’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- Decide if you want a filter at allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water