Chicago Water Hardness

Historically there have been multiple equivalent ways to measure hardness.

Chicago water hardness. The environmental protection agency epa has strict standards requiring local water authorities to remove or at least reduce contaminants that can be harmful to people. Hard water is very high in magnesium calcium and other minerals. If you live in a city you can be fairly confident that your water is safe to use. Chicago water typically ranges from 130 to 150 mg l of calcium carbonate or 7 6 to 8 8 grains per gallon.

For gas water heaters every 5 grains per gallon of hardness causes an 8 percent loss in efficiency and an 8 percent increase in cost when using 100 gallons of hot water per day. On the other hand there s no requirement for your city to remove substances that can be harmful to. Please call ahead or visit any department s website to get additional details or visit chicago gov covid 19. According to the usgs the great lakes region has some of the hardest water in the u s.

Water hardness map of the united states water hardness table of classifications and links to more information about water softening and effects. The groundwater in northern illinois and chicago contain especially high levels of calcium carbonate in the range of 181 to 250 milligrams per liter. The city of chicago is currently in phase four. Water systems using groundwater as a source are concerned with water hardness since as water moves through soil and rock it dissolves small amounts of naturally occurring minerals and carries them into the groundwater supply water is a great solvent for calcium and magnesium so if the minerals are present in the soil around a water supply well hard water may be delivered to homes.

The safety and quality of chicago s tap water is our top priority. The collection of data for the preceding year begins in january it is analyzed and. This is our annual consumer confidence report providing the public with a compressive overview of the chicago water system and an annual average water quality data. When hard water evaporates those minerals are left behind as a whitish scale which can be difficult to remove.

Hard water is perfectly safe for human consumption it simply contains high levels of mineral content. A water hardness test performed by the water treatment experts at rainsoft in chicago illinois can provide useful information about the quality of the water in your home as well as whether it can be improved and if so how.