Chicago Department of Water Management - Chicago, IL

Serves 2,896,016 people - Test data available: 2004-2009

This drinking water quality report shows results of tests conducted by the water utility and provided to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. It is part of EWG's national database that includes 47,667 drinking water utilities and 20 million test results. Water utilities nationwide detected more than 300 pollutants between 2004 and 2009. More than half of these chemicals are unregulated, legal in any amount. Despite this widespread contamination, the federal government invests few resources to protecting rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater from pollution in the first place. The information below summarizes test results for this utility and lists potential health concerns.

www.ewg.org/tap-water/whatsinyourwater2/IL/chicago/0316000/

Pollution Summary

21 - Total Contaminants Detected (2004 - 2009)
Barium (total), Chromium (total), Nitrate & nitrite, Nitrate, Molybdenum, Trichloroacetic acid, Dibromoacetic acid, Arsenic (total), Copper, Lead (total), Dichloroacetic acid, Total haloacetic acids (HAAs), Chloroform, Bromoform, Bromodichloromethane, Dibromochloromethane, Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), Combined Radium (-226 & -228), Radium-226, Radium-228, Alpha particle activity

3 - Agricultural Pollutants
(pesticides, fertilizer, factory farms)
Nitrate & nitrite, Nitrate, Arsenic (total)

6 - Sprawl and Urban Pollutants
(road runoff, lawn pesticides, human waste)
Nitrate & nitrite, Nitrate, Molybdenum, Arsenic (total), Copper, Lead (total)

11 - Industrial Pollutants
Barium (total), Chromium (total), Nitrate & nitrite, Nitrate, Molybdenum, Arsenic (total), Lead (total), Combined Radium (-226 & -228), Radium-226, Radium-228, Alpha particle activity

9 - Water Treatment and Distribution Byproducts
(pipes and fixtures, treatment chemicals and byproducts)
Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), Total haloacetic acids (HAAs), Chloroform, Bromodichloromethane, Dibromochloromethane, Dichloroacetic acid, Trichloroacetic acid, Bromoform, Dibromoacetic acid

11 - Naturally Occurring
(naturally present but increased for lands denuded by sprawl, agriculture, or industrial development)
Nitrate, Copper, Nitrate & nitrite, Barium (total), Lead (total), Arsenic (total), Radium-228, Radium-226, Alpha particle activity, Combined Radium (-226 & -228), Chromium (total)

2 - Unregulated Contaminants
EPA has not established a maximum legal limit in tapwater for these contaminants
Molybdenum, Lead (total)