Does Chicago Have Hard Water? Water Softener for Chicago

Does Chicago have hard water? Yes. According to the survey conducted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) team, Chicago has the hardest water in the U.S.A. The calcium carbonate present in Chicago’s tap water is equivalent to 148 PPM (mg/L) or 8 GPG. According to the USGS’s water hardness scale, Chicago water is considered Hard to Very-Hard water.

As a matter of fact, every city and village in Northern Illinois State has the same problem. Some cities have even harder water than Chicago. The calcium carbonate count in Rockford’s groundwater is 308 PPM (mg/L) or 18 GPG. For the Des Plaines, it is even higher at 350 PPM (mg/L) or 18 GPG. In a Nutshell, all the northern Illinois groundwater is extremely hard.

What Does Chicago Tap Water Quality Report Say?

In this article, we are going to tell you everything there is to know about Chicago’s tap water. We will tell you if it is hard or soft, will you need to use a water softener in Chicago, and what would be the best water softener for Chicago. We are also going to discuss Chicago’s tap water quality based on the City of Chicago Department of Water Management’s report. Does Chicago’s tap water contain fluoride, chlorine, chromium 6, etc.? What is the pH level of water in Chicago? And, what you can do to solve those problems. Let’s get started, shall we?

1) Where does Chicago’s drinking water come from?

The city of Chicago, Department of Water Management depends on Lake Michigan to meet the water demand of the entire city. It is the second-largest lake by volume with 1,180 cubic miles of water.
The City of Chicago collects water from the lake and purifies it in one of their two water purification plants.
The Jardine Water Purification plant sends purified water to the northern part of the city. And the Sawyer water purification plant sends purified water to the southern part of the city.

2) Is Chicago tap water safe?

No, tap water in Chicago is still not completely state. Although the water management board in Chicago have improved their water purification process to meet the EPA’s standards, there’s still an issue of lead contamination hurting the people in Chicago city.

You see, the people of Chicago installed lead lines in their homes until 1986. There are almost 4,00,000 houses in Chicago city that still use those lead lines. When purified water from the plant passes through those lines to the houses, it gets contaminated with lead.

The City of Chicago has emphasized making people aware of lead contamination. They understand, until all those lead lines are replaced, tap water in Chicago will not be safe. For this reason, they have launched the lead service Line Replacement Program. Under this program, they are testing water for lead-free cost. They are offering free lead service line replacement to low-income homeowners. You can call 311 to get a free water testing kit from the dept. of water management.

4) Can you drink tap water in Chicago without filtering?

No, the Chicago water department never recommends drinking unfiltered tap water in Chicago. They prefer everyone in Chicago to use a water filter in their home. So, much so that they give a water pitcher and six cartridges for free to those who can afford it. Go to www.leadsafechicago.com to check if you are eligible to get a free water pitcher from them.

What is the Best Water Filter For Chicago Tap Water ?

There are 2 water filters that we recommend every resident of Chicago to use filter out lead from Chicago tap water. They are :

1. Waterdrop G2 Tankless Reverse Osmosis Water Filter
2. Epic Pure Solid Carbon Block Water Filter Pitcher

Waterdrop G2 Tankless Reverse Osmosis Water Filter

Waterdrop G2 is an NSF-certified, affordable, and easy-to-maintain water filter. Due to its 99.9% filtration accuracy, compact design, and versatile usage, it is a fan’s-favorite RO water filter. Waterdrop G2 has got hundreds of positive reviews and thousands of these units have been sold all over America.

IMAGE	PRODUCT	DETAILS	Price
Best Tankless RO Water Filter	Most Advanced Tankless RO Water Filter	Waterdrop G2	Water Filtration Process: Reverse Osmosis Water Supply Capacity: 1 gallon in 3.6 minutes, 400 gallons per day Water Filtration Stages: 5 Stages Cartridges: 1 Carbon Filter, 1 Reverse Osmosis Filter & 1 Post-Active Carbon Block Filter Maintenance: Every 6-9 months Warranty: 30-day money-back guarantee & 1-year warranty NSF Certification: NSF 58 & 372 Coupon Code: PMLFBNJHSIYZR , 10% discount available only on Waterdrop website	Get Discount Amazon

It is an extremely powerful water filter that provides 400 gallons of water per day. It is designed to meet the water demand of large families, offices, and restaurants.

It uses EPA’s preferred reverse osmosis filtration process to remove lead, fluoride, chlorine, TDS, heavy metals, Coliform bacteria, Chromium 6, and other 1000+ water pollutants. Waterdrop G2 can even turn hard water into soft water by removing calcium and magnesium irons.

For that, Waterdrop G2 uses a Reverse Osmosis Membrane Cartridge, a Sediment PP cartridge, and an Active Block Carbon Filter Cartridge. Installation and maintenance of G2 is a child’s play. Totals installation can be done in under an hour and filter cartridges take about 3 seconds to change. Just like the water filter itself, filter cartridges are also affordable.

It comes with a shiny nickel brushed faucet, a 1-year warranty, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can check our full G2 review here.

Epic Pure Solid Carbon Block Water Filter Pitcher

The next filter that we recommend is the Epic Pure Water Filter pitcher. It is a budget-friendly installation-free water filter pitcher that can remove lead, fluoride, chlorine, mercury from water. Due to its affordability and supreme build quality, it is one of the most sold pitchers in the USA.

IMAGE	PRODUCT	DETAILS	Price
Best Water Filter Pitcher	Best Water Filter Pitcher	Epic Pure Water Filter Pitcher	Water Filtration Process: Carbon Filtering Process Water Supply Capacity: 3.5 litter (Pitcher) and 8.5 litter(Dispenser) in 7-8 minutes Water Filtration Stages: 1 Stage Cartridges: 1 Solid Carbon Block Filter Maintenance: Every 3-4 months Warranty: Lifetime warranty	Get Pitcher

Epic Pure filters about 1 gallon of water in an hour and about 20 gallons per day. It’s not a particularly fast water filter pitcher. But it can get the job done to fulfill the water demand of small families.
To remove impurities from water, Epic pure uses a Solid Carbon Filter that needs to be replaced every 3-4 months. Its water filtering capacity is not as accurate as that of a reverse osmosis water filter, but it can certainly improve the quality of tap water. As long as lead contamination is your only concern, Epic Pure is perfectly capable of solving that problem for you.

Epic Pure is a BPA-free plastic-made water filter. It is washable, recyclable, and capable of filtering 150 gallons of water with only one filter cartridge. You will get a lifetime warranty if you choose to get this pitcher.

5) Is Chicago tap water hard or soft? Do you need to use water softener in Chicago?

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Chicago tap water is extremely hard. Since softening millions of gallons of hard water at a water purification plant is practically impossible, it becomes an individual homeowner’s responsibility to do it. So, if you want to protect your water pipes, washing machines, water heaters, and other home appliances from scale build-up, you have to use a water softener in Chicago. You can either opt for a salt-based water softener, a salt-free water conditioner, or an electromagnetic water descaler.

We have reviewed 2 of the Best Water Softeners for Chicago so that you can choose one for your home.

Water Softener For Chicago

Fleck 56000SXT comes with a programmable control valve which is considered the brain of this system. It controls the regeneration process on-demands making it a highly efficient salt-based system. Once you program the system to your needs, you are all set to get a steady flow of soft water for the next 10+ years. The control valve will control, diagnose and maintain the system for you. All you need to do is to add new salt every few months.  

The Fleck 5600SXT comes with a 5-year warranty for the control valve and a 10-year warranty for the water tank. For peace of mind, you will also get a month’s money-back guarantee with it. 

Using Yarna CWD24 is easy. It comes with an electronic unit and ultra-flat impulse bands. You will need to wrap the band around your incoming water pipe just like the way you see it in the picture. And then connect it to any electrical source. The computerized microchip inside Yarna CWD24 will produce electrical impulses and send them via those bands to the water to make it soft. It takes about 15 minutes to completely install the descaler in your home.

You won’t need to cut your water pipe to install the system, making it the easiest method of dealing with hard water.

Yarna is so confident about their water descaler that they give a whole year money-back guarantee with it. If you are not satisfied with Yarna CWD24, you can return it for a full refund.

6) Is there chromium 6 in Chicago drinking water?

Chromium 6, also known as Hexavalent Chromium, is an unregulated water contaminant. That means the Environmental Protection Agency has not yet set the standards for Chromium 6 present in drinking water. Still, the Chicago Water Management Board (WMB) monitors the levels of chromium 6 in Chicago’s tap water. Their monitoring report helps EPA determine whether they need to regulate chromium 6 in the future or not.

Under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 4, Chicago WMB tests for Chromium 6 four times a year, The latest report published at the end of 2020 shows that Chicago water samples contain chromium 6 in trace amounts. The contamination level varies from time to time and location-to-location. For example, a water sample taken from the Field Reagent blank area contained 0.15 micrograms of chromium 6 per liter in Q1,2020 and 0.07 micrograms per liter in Q4,2020. The entire monitoring report is attached here. Do take a look.

Chromium 6 is a highly fatal water contaminant. If you want to know how it affects health and how to completely remove it from water, check out our detailed post about Chromium 6 here.

7) What is the pH of Chicago tap water?

Based on the Comprehensive Chemical Analysis (CCA) done by the Water Management dept of Chicago, the pH level of Chicago tap water ranges from 7.6 to 7.9. According to the standardized pH scale, Chicago tap water is slightly alkaline.

8) What is the Chicago tap water TDS level?

Based on the latest Chicago CCA,2020 report, Chicago tap water has 142-178 milligrams of total dissolved solids(TDS) per litter in it.

9) How much fluoride is in Chicago tap water?

The latest Chicago CCA,2020 report tells us, Chicago tap water contains 0,64-0.68 milligrams of fluoride per liter. Fluoride in Chicago tap water is well below the maximum allowed fluoride contamination level, 4 micrograms per liter, set by the EPA.

10) Does Chicago tap water have chlorine?

Yes, Chicago tap water contains 12-14 milligrams of chlorine per liter, which is much less than the maximum allowed chlorine contamination level of 250 milligrams of chlorine per liter.

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