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Tap water report · updated November 2026

Chicago tap water: no PFOA or PFOS found

What’s in the water Chicago Department of Water Management delivers to 2.7 million people, from national testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the utility’s own report.

Short answer

Chicago Department of Water Management’s annual water quality report doesn’t include a hardness figure, so there’s no published number for Chicago. Ask the utility, or a home test strip gives you one in a minute. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2024 testing found no PFOA or PFOS (two PFAS “forever chemicals”) at or above its 4 parts per trillion (ppt) limit. The system had no health-based violations in the five years through September 2026.

Sources: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS 2026Q3 · Sources and method

Hardness

Not published

Test it yourself

Chicago Department of Water Management doesn’t report it

PFAS (PFOA, PFOS)

None found

every sample under 4 ppt

Under EPA’s 4 ppt limit

EPA UCMR 5, sampled 2024

Disinfectant

Free chlorine

Carbon filters remove it

Chicago Department of Water Management

Violations

0

health-based, 5 years

None on record

EPA SDWIS, through September 2026

How Chicago compares with the 40 systems we track

  • PFOA / PFOS

    Not detected

    in any EPA sample

  • Size

    4th largest

    of 40 by people served

Compare every system in the 2026 report →

01 · What it means

What these readings mean for your home

Each reading in plain English: what it is, how Chicago compares with the other systems we track, and whether there’s anything to do. The tags follow EPA’s limits and reference levels where EPA has one; for hardness, which has no EPA limit, they follow the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scale and Minnesota’s health department. New to the acronyms? Every term, in plain English.

Hardness

Worth knowing

Hardness is dissolved calcium and magnesium. It isn’t a health issue, but it decides whether a softener is worth buying. It’s measured in grains per gallon (gpg).

Here: Hardness isn’t in the Chicago Department of Water Management annual water quality report, so there’s no published number for Chicago. You can ask the utility, or test it yourself.

What to do: A hardness test strip or a lab test gives you the number in minutes. Then use the sizing calculator to see whether a softener makes sense.

What the research says: Studies tie hard water to more soap use and scale. Observational studies link it with somewhat more eczema in babies, but in the largest trial a softener didn’t improve existing eczema. The studies →

Learn more →

PFAS (PFOA and PFOS)

Nothing to do

PFAS are a family of thousands of manufactured chemicals used in many consumer and industrial products. They break down very slowly, which is why people call them "forever chemicals." PFOA and PFOS are the two EPA regulates most tightly. They’re measured in parts per trillion (ppt): 1 ppt is about one drop in 20 Olympic swimming pools.

Here: EPA’s 2024 testing found no PFOA or PFOS in Chicago’s water at or above 4 ppt, the lowest level labs can reliably measure. 29 of the 40 systems we track can say the same; 11 had a sample over the limit.

What to do: Nothing needed by EPA’s standard. If you want PFAS lower still, the same certified filters apply.

What the research says: EPA and the National Academies link PFOA and PFOS exposure to higher cholesterol, lower vaccine response, lower birth weight and some cancers, mostly over years of drinking the water. The studies →

Learn more →

Disinfectant

Nothing to do

Utilities add a small amount of chlorine, or chloramine (chlorine combined with a little ammonia), so germs can’t grow in the pipes on the way to your tap. EPA allows up to 4 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of either and says water within its standards can be used for drinking, cooking and bathing.

Here: Chicago uses free chlorine. It’s the one that can give tap water a slight pool smell, and it’s easy to filter.

What to do: For taste, any carbon filter certified to NSF/ANSI 42 for chlorine works.

What the research says: Health agencies call these levels acceptable for drinking and bathing; dialysis and fish tanks are the exceptions. Studies haven’t shown shower chlorine harms skin or hair. The studies →

Learn more →

Health-based violations

Nothing to do

A health-based violation means the utility broke a federal drinking water rule tied to health: it went over a limit, or skipped a required treatment step. Missing a paperwork deadline doesn’t count.

Here: Chicago’s system had none in the five years through September 2026. That’s normal for a large system: 36 of the 40 we track had none.

What to do: Nothing to do.

Learn more →

How Chicago compares: highest PFOA or PFOS sample

Parts per trillion (ppt), from EPA’s 2023–25 testing. The dashed line is EPA’s limit of 4.

Chicago: none at or above 4 ppt. Like 28 other systems we track, EPA’s testing found no PFOA or PFOS there. These 11 did:

  1. Miami33.0 PFOS
  2. El Paso8.5 PFOS
  3. Fort Worth8.3 PFOA
  4. Philadelphia8.1 PFOA
  5. Louisville7.5 PFOA
  6. Tampa6.9 PFOS
  7. Dallas6.3 PFOA
  8. San Jose6.2 PFOS
  9. Cincinnati6.1 PFOS
  10. Columbus5.3 PFOA
  11. Austin4.8 PFOS
Each bar is one system’s highest single sample, not a yearly average. 11 of 40 systems detected PFOA or PFOS; the other 29 had nothing at or above 4 ppt, Chicago among them. All 40 systems

If you live in Chicago

02 · The full results

Every PFAS result EPA recorded

EPA’s national testing (sampled 2024) found no PFOA or PFOS at or above 4 ppt in any of 8 samples, which puts Chicago under EPA’s limit for both.

Results from EPA’s national testing program (UCMR 5) for Chicago Department of Water Management, 2 sampling points, January 2024 to October 2024. Concentrations in parts per trillion (ppt).

EPA UCMR 5 PFAS results for Chicago
ChemicalSamplesDetectedHighestEPA limit
PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid)80none4
PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)80none4
PFHxS80none10
PFNA80none10
HFPO-DA (GenX)80none10

"None" means every sample was under EPA’s reporting level (4 ppt for PFOA). PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA (GenX) are three other PFAS chemicals; EPA proposed removing their limits in May 2026, and that isn’t final.

03 · Where it comes from

The source, and who else drinks it

Chicago draws its water from Lake Michigan and treats it at two plants: Jardine serves the northern part of the city and suburbs, and Sawyer the southern part.

Chicago Department of Water Management serves about 2.7 million people directly, and 51 other water systems buy water from it, serving about 821,250 more. If you live in one of them, most of what’s on this page describes your water too, though hardness and disinfectant can change if your system blends in its own wells.

Chicago’s water system had no health-based violations in the five years through September 2026, according to EPA’s federal database.

Largest systems that buy from Chicago Department of Water Management

  • Cicero83,000
  • Des Plaines60,675
  • Oak Lawn58,362
  • Berwyn57,250
  • Oak Park54,583
  • Park Ridge39,800
  • Calumet City37,000
  • South Stickny Sd30,000
  • Elmwood Park25,000
  • Harvey25,000

From EPA’s federal drinking water database (SDWIS), 2026Q3: community systems with an active connection buying from IL0316000. Population served.

ZIP codes Chicago Department of Water Management reports serving (59)

60601 · 60602 · 60603 · 60604 · 60605 · 60606 · 60607 · 60608 · 60609 · 60610 · 60611 · 60612 · 60613 · 60614 · 60615 · 60616 · 60617 · 60618 · 60619 · 60620 · 60621 · 60622 · 60623 · 60624 · 60625 · 60626 · 60628 · 60629 · 60630 · 60631 · 60632 · 60633 · 60634 · 60636 · 60637 · 60638 · 60639 · 60640 · 60641 · 60642 · 60643 · 60644 · 60645 · 60646 · 60647 · 60649 · 60651 · 60652 · 60653 · 60654 · 60655 · 60656 · 60657 · 60659 · 60660 · 60661 · 60666 · 60707 · 60827

From EPA’s UCMR 5 ZIP file. A ZIP can be served by more than one system; your water bill names yours. Look up any ZIP.

04 · Questions

Chicago water questions

Is Chicago tap water safe to drink?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn’t grade a city’s tap water as safe or unsafe; it sets limits and records violations. By that record, Chicago’s water system had no health-based violations of federal drinking water rules in the five years through September 2026. EPA’s 2024 testing found no PFOA or PFOS (two PFAS “forever chemicals”) samples above its 4 parts per trillion (ppt) limit.

Is Chicago tap water hard?

Chicago Department of Water Management’s annual water quality report doesn’t include a hardness figure, so there’s no published number for Chicago. Ask the utility, or a home test strip gives you one in a minute.

Does Chicago tap water have PFAS?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) national testing (sampled 2024) found no PFOA or PFOS (two PFAS “forever chemicals”) at or above 4 parts per trillion (ppt) in any of 8 samples, which puts Chicago under EPA’s limit for both.

Does Chicago use chlorine or chloramine?

Free chlorine. Chicago’s 2025 report lists chlorine (as Cl2) as the disinfectant measured in its distribution system.

Has Chicago’s water system had violations?

Chicago’s water system had no health-based violations in the five years through September 2026, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) federal database.

Nearest cities we cover

Sources

  1. 01Chicago Department of Water Management water quality report (checked for hardness), read 2026-11-04
  2. 02Chicago Department of Water Management (source water)
  3. 03EPA, Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) occurrence data, file posted 2026-10-15
  4. 04EPA, Safe Drinking Water Information System via ECHO, 2026Q3 file
  5. 05EPA, PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, 89 FR 32532
  6. 06USGS Water Science School, "Hardness of Water"

EPA system ID IL0316000 · Chicago Department of Water Management