Drinking Water

Public Water Users

• Public Water Supply users — Notices that have been given by Illinois EPA to the public and to water supply operators about groundwater contamination found in PWS wells – beginning in August 2009 – per the additional Right-to-Know legislation to strengthen the notification process.
• Drinking Water Watch — Drinking Water Watch provides online information on the quality of water produced by community water supplies in Illinois - both from surface water and groundwater. In cases where community water supplies make use of groundwater wells, any contamination found may also pose a threat of impacts to private water wells that make use of the same source of groundwater.                                          
  
  The Drinking Water Watch Web Portal allows citizens to directly access drinking water monitoring data and other information for community water systems in Illinois.                                          
  
  Citizens and officials can click on a county map or enter the name of a community and pull up all the compliance monitoring data for the supply and any violation information. An administrative contact for the supply that citizens can call for further information is also included. Although water supplies are required to directly notify customers of any violations of federal drinking water standards and provide an annual Consumer Confidence Report, the web site increases the accessibility of information to the public.

Private Water Users

• Private Well User Information — Notices and news releases provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health to alert private well users to groundwater contamination that may impact their wells.
• Safe Water Well Initiative — There are several hundred thousand individual private wells in use across Illinois for which the owners have responsibility for ensuring the water is safe and healthy. A new fact sheet on the importance of private well owners doing regular testing for potential contaminants, including volatile organic compound chemicals, and other useful information, such as a list of certified laboratories and Illinois Department of Public Health and county health department assistance is now available at the link above.

Further Information

• What You Need To Know About Private Drinking Water Wells
• Right-To-Know Notification
• Groundwater Ordinance Chart
• When Every Drop Counts: Protecting Public Health During Drought Conditions
  
  CDC's National Center for Environmental Health developed this publication to assist public health officials, practitioners, and other stakeholders in their efforts to understand and prepare for drought in their communities. The document includes information about how drought affects public health, recommends steps to help mitigate the health effects of drought, identifies future needs for research and other drought-related activities, and provides a list of helpful resources and tools.