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Is Chicago, IL tap water safe?

Chicago serves Chicago, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Illinois’s records show for it, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

Chicago serves Chicago. In EPA’s and Illinois’s records it has 2 results above the health goal, and no health-based violation since 2016.

The worst: Lead at 6.4 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from Chicago is hard, typically 137 mg/L (8 grains per gallon). How Illinois’s water compares.

Some homes in a town are on private wells or a small system of their own. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Chicago’s water.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Chicago

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Illinois certifies.

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

  • Culligan Analytical Laboratory

    Rosemont, IL · about 13 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (847) 430-1284

  • ETP Labs, Inc.

    Willowbrook, IL · about 15 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (630) 891-3392

  • DuPage County Health Department

    Wheaton, IL · about 22 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (630) 221-7177

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

ZIP codes in Chicago

Which ZIP codes are in Chicago: 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 Chicago

Other towns in Cook County with a page of their own.

What to do next