Is Decatur, IL tap water safe?
The short answer
1 of the 3 utilities serving Decatur has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Illinois’s records: Mount Zion.
Decatur, 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 Decatur is hard, 130 mg/L (7.6 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 Decatur’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Decatur
Illinois · serves 76,122 people · about 20,000 in Decatur
Nothing in its records is above a health goal. Hardness: hard, 130 mg/L (7.6 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Long Creek Township PWS
Illinois · serves 7,850 people · about 540 in Decatur
2 results above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic at 2.4 ppb, above the health goal. Hardness: moderately hard, 78 mg/L (4.6 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Mount Zion
Illinois · serves 5,833 people · about 260 in Decatur
1 result above the legal limit and 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at 74.5 ppb, above the legal limit. Hardness: moderately hard, typically 105 mg/L (6.1 grains per gallon).
8 health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Decatur
The 3 labs Illinois certifies closest to Decatur, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Key Laboratory Services, Inc.
Monticello, IL · about 24 miles
Certified for bacteria
Water Lab (EJ Water Coop)
Dieterich, IL · about 66 miles
Certified for bacteria
Daily Laboratories
Peoria, IL · about 72 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 IllinoisWhich ZIP codes are in Decatur: 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 Decatur
Other towns in Macon County with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Decatur’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