Is St. Charles, IL tap water safe?
The short answer
None of the 4 utilities serving St. Charles has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Illinois’s records.
St Charles, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 28.6 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.
The water from St Charles is moderately hard to very hard depending on the source, 100 to 560 mg/L (5.8 to 32.7 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 St. Charles’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
St Charles
Illinois · serves 33,081 people · about 19,100 in St. Charles
1 result above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 28.6 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Hardness: moderately hard to very hard depending on the source, 100 to 560 mg/L (5.8 to 32.7 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
West Chicago
Illinois · serves 25,166 people · about 1,300 in St. Charles
1 result above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 36.8 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Hardness: moderately hard, 99 mg/L (5.8 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Wasco SD
Illinois · serves 4,000 people · about 520 in St. Charles
2 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 17 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Hardness: soft, 17 mg/L (1 grain per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Geneva
Illinois · serves 21,247 people · about 260 in St. Charles
2 results above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 5.3 ppb, above the health goal. Hardness: moderately hard, 64 mg/L (3.7 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
What handles it
Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in St Charles’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.
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Brita Tahoe Pitcher with Elite Filter (OB60, OB06)
Pitcher
- WQA listing:NSF/ANSI 42NSF/ANSI 53NSF/ANSI 401checked Oct. 13, 2026
- IAPMO listing:NSF/ANSI 53checked Oct. 13, 2026
Certified for: Lead
Brita Everyday Pitcher with Elite Filter (OB46, OB06)
Pitcher
- WQA listing:NSF/ANSI 42NSF/ANSI 53NSF/ANSI 401checked Oct. 13, 2026
Certified for: Lead
PUR PLUS 11-Cup Pitcher (PPT111W)
Pitcher
- NSF listing:NSF/ANSI 42NSF/ANSI 53NSF/ANSI 401checked Oct. 4, 2026
- WQA listing:NSF/ANSI 42NSF/ANSI 53NSF/ANSI 401checked Oct. 4, 2026
- IAPMO listing:NSF/ANSI 42NSF/ANSI 53NSF/ANSI 401checked Oct. 4, 2026
Certified for: Lead
Water testing near St. Charles
The 3 labs Illinois certifies closest to St. Charles, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Suburban Laboratories, Inc.
Geneva, IL · about 4 miles
Certified for bacteria
Phigenics Analytical Services Laboratory
Warrenville, IL · about 12 miles
Certified for bacteria
Eurofins Built Environment Testing Central-Chicago
Naperville, IL · about 13 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 St. Charles: 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 St. Charles
Other towns in Kane County with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read St Charles’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- About LithiumWhat it does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Lithium
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water