Chicago Water Quality Analysis

Who Regulates Chicago’s Water Supply?

Several organizations team up to tackle Chicago’s water quality, including:

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces limits on over 120 different contaminants in public water systems. 
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sets limits for contaminants in bottled water. 
• The City of Chicago Department of Water Management (CDWM) is in charge of daily monitoring and testing of Chicago’s local water sources and treatment plants.

Here’s what the CDWM found in their latest water quality report:

Chicago Department of Water Management Consumer Confidence Report

Every year, the CDWM publishes its annual water quality report.

In their most recent report, Chicago met or exceeded all state and federal health standards. 

Is Chicago’s water perfectly pure? 

No, but as you’ll soon find out, the city is pulling out all the stops to make their tap water the best it can be.

One of the ways is by monitoring for unregulated contaminants...

City of Chicago Emerging Contaminant Study

Legally, the city of Chicago only has to monitor for the 120 contaminants regulated by the EPA. 

But what about all the other nasty pollutants that threaten local water supplies?

Well, Chicago decided to start testing for those too…

Altogether, The City of Chicago Emerging Contaminant Study tested for a total of 147 unregulated compounds. 

When it was all said and done, they found trace levels of only 34 pollutants, including:

• Nicotine (stimulant in tobacco)
• Cotinine (metabolite of nicotine)
• Sulfamethoxazole (antibiotic)
• Atrazine (herbicide)
• Triazine degradates (herbicide)
• DEET (insect repellant)
• PFOS (fluorosurfactant)
• Hexavalent chromium (trace element)

Just because these substances aren’t regulated by the EPA, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re safe...

Chromium, for example, can cause cancer and reproductive side effects in both men and women, and DEET, PFOS and atrazine aren’t exactly saints either. 

Next up, here’s what one of the country’s leading nonprofits thinks about Chicago’s tap water:

Environmental Working Group’s Water Quality Report 

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit organization that publishes their own comprehensive water quality reports.

They collect data from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as well as the US EPA Enforcement and Compliance History database (ECHO).

It’s fair to say their health standards are a lot higher than the federal government’s. 

In their latest report, the EWG found 12 cancer-causing contaminants above healthy limits, including:

• Bromodichloromethane: 120x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Chloroform: 24x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Hexavalent chromium: 10x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Dibromoacetic acid: 19x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Dibromochloromethane: 43x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Dichloroacetic acid: 26x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Haloacetic acids: 105x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Nitrate: 2.5x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Nitrite: 2.5x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Radium: 13x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Total trihalomethanes: 144x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES
• Trichloroacetic acid: 45x EWG HEALTH GUIDELINES

So which organization should you listen to, the CDWM’s Consumer Confidence Report, the City of Chicago’s Emerging Contaminant Study, or the EWG’s Water Quality Report?

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which guidelines to follow. 

Luckily, in-home water filters can remove up to 99.9% of all dangerous contaminants, but more on that in a sec…

For now, let’s take a closer look at where Chicago gets its water:

Where Does Chicago Get Its Water?

Chicago gets its water from Lake Michigan, the second largest Great Lake and the only one that’s fully contained within the US. 

Because of Lake Michigan’s massive size, it’s exposed to a lot of contamination.

Before making its way to Chicago homes, the water passes through two treatment plants: 

1. The Jardine Water Purification Plant 
2. The Sawyer Water Purification Plant

Jardine serves north Chicago and Sawyer serves the south.

Treating Chicago’s Drinking Water

Here’s what the treatment process looks like at Chicago’s Jardine and Sawyer treatment plants:

1. As the water enters the treatment plants, it’s filtered through eight screens to catch debris. 
2. The water is then pumped to another section of the plant for its first chemical treatment. 
3. Next, it flows through mixing basins to begin the flocculation process. Flocculation uses chemicals to gather suspended solids so they can be easily removed. 
4. The water then passes through sand and gravel for natural polishing.
5. Last but not least, the filtered water flows into clearwells for final chemical treatments. 

Chicago uses several chemicals to treat their water, including:

• Chlorine to disinfect the water
• Aluminum sulfate to settle out impurities
• Blended polyphosphate to coat pipes and reduce lead exposure
• Activated carbon to improve the smell and taste 
• Fluoride to prevent cavities

Once the water is ready to leave the plant, it flows through distribution pipes to homes and businesses across the Chicago area.

Testing and Monitoring Water Quality

The CDWM performs over 600,000 tests a year. 

At the same time, the Illinois EPA runs a Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) to protect watersheds and public water supplies. 

Like most cities, Chicago puts a big emphasis on microorganisms like Cryptosporidium, Giardia and E. coli. In 2020, they detected zero Cryptosporidium or Giardia in water samples. 

The CDWM also tests for unregulated compounds, like chromium-6, to watchout for new contamination threats.

They also monitor heavily for lead (a big issue in Chicago) but more on that later…

For now, let’s take a closer look at the many pollutants that threaten Chicago’s drinking water:

Contaminants Threatening Chicago’s Water Supply

All drinking water, including bottled water, usually contains some level of contaminants. 

Surface water, like Lake Michigan, is especially vulnerable. 

At certain times of the year, wet weather and river reversals can make the problem worse. 

Plus, intake pipes at treatment plants tend to attract birds and increase fecal matter into the water. 

Here’s a full list of potential contaminants: 

• Viruses, bacteria and parasites from septic tanks, livestock operations and sewage plants
• Pesticides and herbicides from agriculture and residential uses
• Salts, metals and other byproducts from industrial waste, mining, farming, urban stormwater and oil and gas production
• Radioactive contaminants from oil, gas and mining operations, as well as some that occur naturally in the rocks and soil

These pollutants can make you sick, but some folks are more vulnerable than others…

The elderly, infants, young children, cancer patients and people with immune system disorders are the most at risk.

Steps to Reduce Lead Exposure

Lead is a major concern with Chicago’s water. 

Drinking this heavy metal can cause serious health problems, including:

• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Cancer
• Birth defects
• Learning and behavioral disorders in children

In 1986, the federal government outlawed lead plumbing components, but thousands of Chicago communities still contain lead pipes.

In fact, Chicago has over 400,000 locations with lead lines — more than any other city!

Fortunately, the CDWM has lots of programs to reduce lead exposure, including:

• Adding phosphate to minimize the amount of lead that leaches into tap water
• An equity program to provide free lead service line replacements to low-income residents 
• Offering free NSF-certified water filters to private homes
• Providing free residential lead testing by certified labs
• Replacing miles of water and sewer mains

But even if the city replaces 100% of their lead service lines, they still can’t replace the old lead pipes in private homes. 

If your home was built before 1986, there’s a good chance that your pipes contain lead.

In that case, you can reduce lead exposure by running your water for several minutes before using it. 

The best move, though, is to install a high-quality water filter in your home, but more on that later…

For now, let’s take a look at the controversy surrounding Chicago’s water main upgrades:

Chicago’s Upgrades to Aging Water Mains May Disturb Lead Pipes

Over the last decade, Chicago has been hard at work replacing aging water mains. 

While this is a much-needed upgrade, the project might actually be releasing more lead into the water supply. 

In 2016, a group of Chicago residents filed a class-action lawsuit against the city, claiming that the project disturbs nearby lead service lines and increases lead in local drinking water.  

According to the lawsuit, the city failed to warn residents about the risks. 

So what’s the moral of the story?

Ultimately, it’s up to you to take water quality into your own hands!

Should Chicago Residents Use In-Home Water Filters?

The fact is, lead and other contaminants are still a serious health risk for the people of Chicago.

Chances are, this problem isn’t going to change anytime soon. 

The best way to protect your family is to install an in-home water filtration system. 

Filters come in many shapes and sizes. Some remove chlorine and trace amounts of lead, and others are great for killing bacteria.

But if you want to remove up to 99.9% of all harmful contaminants, reverse osmosis (RO) systems are the way to go...

They combine sediment filters, activated carbon filters, ion exchange resins, RO membranes and polishing filters to remove lead, copper, PFAS, bacteria, viruses and more.  

Cloud Water Filters even use built-in software to monitor your water quality 24/7. 

Your tap water will be clean as a jelly bean!

Click here to learn more.