An analysis by the Guardian of the City of Chicago claims that one in 20 tap water tests contained lead at or above maximum federal contaminant levels.
The analysis tested drinking water for 24,000 homes, with the Guardian estimating that 1,000 homes had lead levels exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit of 15 parts per billion (ppb).
A spokesperson for the Chicago department of water management told the Guardian that the testing results are an overestimation: the city’s testing method involves letting water stand for several hours in the pipes, allowing the metal to accumulate.
“Chicago takes its drinking water quality very seriously,” the spokesperson, Megan Vidis, told the Guardian. “The department of water management (DWM) offers one of the largest free lead testing programs in the world and voluntarily shares the results online to keep residents informed.”
Notably, Chicago is still in compliance with federal requirements: the EPA limit only requires that cities notify the public when at least 10 percent of homes tested are above that amount. According to the analysis’s findings, only about five percent of homes tests were above the 15 ppb.
The Guardian reports that nine of the top 10 zip codes with the most lead contamination contained neighborhoods mostly populated by ethnic minorities, and that one home in a majority-Black neighborhood had lead levels as high as 1,100 ppb.
The analysis comes from an effort by the Guardian and Elin Betanzo, founder of Safe Water Engineering LLC, to review the results of water tests for Chicago residents between 2016 and 2021.
