With a lake to its east, Chicago appears to have an excellent source of water. Two purification plants draw raw water from Lake Michigan to purify and provide to residents of the Chicagoland area. The Jardine Water Purification Plant, which lies north of Navy Pier, serves the northern areas of the city and suburbs, while Sawyer Water Purification Plant, the first purification plant built in Chicago, serves the southern areas of Chicago and the suburbs.
However, in early 2018, the Chicago Tribune investigated Chicago's drinking water and discovered that 70% of the homes tested had lead in their water. In fact, 30% of the homes tested had tap water with concentrations over 5 parts per billion, the highest level of lead allowed in bottled water!
This is because Chicago has traditionally used lead pipes for water resources, despite its poisonous effects on water. However, Congress banned the use of lead pipes for water in 1986.
Chicago homes are not the only areas in Chicago with a lead problem. Outdoor drinking fountains had been tested for extremely high lead levels, for example, two fountains at Gompers Park had concentrations of 50 and 75 ppb!
In fact, due to the dangerously high concentrations of lead found, half of the fountains were eventually turned off and marked for removal.
The 2019 Consumer Confidence report states that Chicago’s tap water met all USEPA and state drinking water health standards. The Illinois EPA considers all surface water sources of community water supply to be vulnerable to some extent of pollution. The very nature of surface water allows contaminants to taint the water without any form of protection other than dilution. Furthermore, crib structures attract birds, so fecal matter can also be found in Lake Michigan. Due to groundwater flowing into the lake, shore intakes are also susceptible to runoff.
Contaminants in tap water include microbial contaminants such as E. Coli, metals, disinfectant byproducts, unregulated contaminants, and even radioactive contaminants such as radium!
Drinking water also has small amounts of contaminants, but according to the 2019 Consumer Confidence report, that does not always equate to unsafe drinking water quality. Such contaminants include viruses, bacteria, salts, metals, organic contaminants, and radioactive contaminants.
Although Chicago has consistently passed health standards, the bar is rather low, so there is still a lot of room for improvement. For example, even though Chicago met or exceeded drinking water health standards, significant amounts of lead was found in many homes and drinking fountains, which can cause brain damage. Furthermore, communities of color are more susceptible to unsafe water. Access to clean water is a basic human right that everyone should have, regardless of race and social status.
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