Vanadium Contamination

Vanadium in Illinois Drinking Water

Ranked by max vanadium detected (µg/L) · UCMR 3 data (2013–2015) · Data from EPA SDWIS & UCMR

181

Cities Tested

Over HA

% Over HA

0.77 µg/L

State Avg

▼ 5% vs national

vs National

695

Health Violations

Analysis

Vanadium in Illinois: what the data shows

Illinois has 181 cities with vanadium data from the EPA's UCMR 3 program (2013–2015). Vanadium was detected above the 21 µg/L EPA short-term health advisory in 0 of those cities. The state average max detected level is 0.77 µg/L. Vanadium occurs naturally in groundwater, particularly in the western United States where it leaches from volcanic rock and oil shale formations. Industrial sources include steel manufacturing, oil refining, and fossil fuel combustion. There is no federal MCL for vanadium — the EPA established a short-term health advisory of 21 µg/L for a 10 kg child consuming 1 L/day for 10 days. Long-term exposure to elevated vanadium has been associated with kidney effects in animal studies and possible developmental impacts. Reverse osmosis and ion exchange systems are effective at removing vanadium from drinking water.

Comparison

Cities exceeding 21 µg/L EPA short-term HA (no MCL)

Illinois

0 of 181 cities

← ▼ 5% below national rate (better)

National avg

179 of 3322 cities

City Map

Vanadium data across Illinois

Each dot is a city with UCMR 3 vanadium testing data. Cities where vanadium exceeds the 21 µg/L EPA short-term health advisory are highlighted. Size reflects population served.

Worst Offenders

Top 10 cities by vanadium level in Illinois

Highest Vanadium levels (µg/L)

All Cities

All Illinois cities ranked by vanadium level

#	City	Level	Over HA?	Violations	Grade
1	Springfield	5.60 µg/L	No	3	D
2	Ottawa	4.53 µg/L	No	62	F
3	Chatham	4.46 µg/L	No	2	A
4	Mascoutah	3.62 µg/L	No	6	A-
5	Caseyville	3.60 µg/L	No	3	B+
6	Moline	3.56 µg/L	No	7	C
7	East St Louis	3.40 µg/L	No	1	B+
8	Alton	3.30 µg/L	No	1	B
9	O Fallon	3.10 µg/L	No	17	A-
10	Mattoon	2.95 µg/L	No	14	B-
11	Granite City	2.40 µg/L	No	0	B+
12	Canton	2.30 µg/L	No	7	B+
13	Waverly	2.25 µg/L	No	22	A
14	Elgin	2.20 µg/L	No	9	C-
15	Jerseyville	2.10 µg/L	No	6	A-
16	Bloomington	2.10 µg/L	No	21	F
17	Dieterich	2.00 µg/L	No	7	F
18	Quincy	1.83 µg/L	No	3	B-
19	Collinsville	1.80 µg/L	No	12	C-
20	Eureka	1.80 µg/L	No	20	B
21	Peoria	1.70 µg/L	No	5	D+
22	Taylorville	1.70 µg/L	No	0	A-
23	East Moline	1.59 µg/L	No	18	D+
24	Normal	1.56 µg/L	No	3	D+
25	Freeburg	1.55 µg/L	No	7	A-
26	Jacksonville	1.53 µg/L	No	28	B-
27	Rock Island	1.53 µg/L	No	5	B-
28	Centralia	1.53 µg/L	No	2	B
29	Troy	1.50 µg/L	No	3	A-
30	Macomb	1.42 µg/L	No	39	D
31	Decatur	1.39 µg/L	No	28	B
32	Mount Vernon	1.30 µg/L	No	2	B+
33	Marion	1.21 µg/L	No	29	D
34	Aurora	1.20 µg/L	No	20	D
35	Effingham	1.19 µg/L	No	2	A-
36	Rockford	1.16 µg/L	No	43	F
37	Carterville	1.15 µg/L	No	3	C+
38	Danville	1.10 µg/L	No	24	B
39	Nashville	1.10 µg/L	No	27	C-
40	Tamaroa	1.09 µg/L	No	0	A-
41	Charleston	1.09 µg/L	No	10	C+
42	Pekin	1.00 µg/L	No	1	D+
43	Salem	0.85 µg/L	No	7	C
44	North Pekin	0.82 µg/L	No	1	A-
45	Herrin	0.77 µg/L	No	0	C+
46	Sleepy Hollow	0.74 µg/L	No	4	A-
47	Machesney Park	0.71 µg/L	No	4	B
48	Streator	0.70 µg/L	No	14	A-
49	Pontiac	0.70 µg/L	No	10	C
50	Benton	0.64 µg/L	No	5	D
51	Bethalto	0.61 µg/L	No	0	A-
52	Champaign	0.60 µg/L	No	0	A
53	West Chicago	0.60 µg/L	No	22	A
54	Urbana	0.55 µg/L	No	0	C+
55	Kankakee	0.52 µg/L	No	40	F
56	Franklin Park	0.50 µg/L	No	5	B
57	Bensenville	0.50 µg/L	No	4	A
58	Wood River	0.47 µg/L	No	0	B+
59	Godfrey	0.43 µg/L	No	22	C+
60	Orland Park	0.40 µg/L	No	0	A-
61	Wheaton	0.40 µg/L	No	2	B-
62	Libertyville	0.40 µg/L	No	14	C
63	Downers Grove	0.40 µg/L	No	2	A
64	Glenview	0.40 µg/L	No	3	B+
65	Northbrook	0.40 µg/L	No	55	D
66	Bartlett	0.40 µg/L	No	49	B-
67	Park Ridge	0.40 µg/L	No	1	B
68	Addison	0.40 µg/L	No	0	A
69	Calumet City	0.40 µg/L	No	3	C-
70	Darien	0.40 µg/L	No	6	C+
71	Chicago Heights	0.40 µg/L	No	0	B+
72	Melrose Park	0.40 µg/L	No	6	C
73	Lisle	0.40 µg/L	No	2	A-
74	Rolling Meadows	0.40 µg/L	No	3	A
75	Forest Park	0.40 µg/L	No	2	A-
76	Blue Island	0.40 µg/L	No	19	C
77	Matteson	0.40 µg/L	No	1	B
78	Homewood	0.40 µg/L	No	2	C
79	Brookfield	0.40 µg/L	No	0	A-
80	Palos Hills	0.40 µg/L	No	3	A
81	Westchester	0.40 µg/L	No	2	B
82	Palos Heights	0.40 µg/L	No	1	A-
83	Midlothian	0.40 µg/L	No	5	A-
84	Hickory Hills	0.40 µg/L	No	1	A
85	Wood Dale	0.40 µg/L	No	0	A-
86	Riverdale	0.40 µg/L	No	6	B+
87	Summit	0.39 µg/L	No	1	B+
88	Peotone	0.39 µg/L	No	3	A-
89	Naperville	0.39 µg/L	No	0	B+
90	Glenwood	0.37 µg/L	No	0	B+
91	Westhaven	0.37 µg/L	No	3	A+
92	Burr Ridge	0.35 µg/L	No	0	A
93	Oak Forest	0.35 µg/L	No	0	B+
94	North Chicago	0.33 µg/L	No	5	B+
95	Wheeling	0.33 µg/L	No	5	A+
96	Palatine	0.33 µg/L	No	2	B
97	Justice	0.32 µg/L	No	0	A-
98	Hazel Crest	0.32 µg/L	No	2	B
99	Worth	0.32 µg/L	No	3	A
100	Crestwood	0.32 µg/L	No	0	B
101	Country Club Hills	0.32 µg/L	No	0	A-
102	Plainfield	0.32 µg/L	No	23	B-
103	La Grange Park	0.32 µg/L	No	2	A
104	Lansing	0.32 µg/L	No	2	B
105	Murphysboro	0.32 µg/L	No	8	B
106	Buffalo Grove	0.32 µg/L	No	1	A
107	Edwardsville	0.31 µg/L	No	18	D+
108	Farmer City	0.31 µg/L	No	1	B-
109	Villa Park	0.31 µg/L	No	2	A
110	Rantoul	0.30 µg/L	No	54	D
111	Chicago	0.30 µg/L	No	68	F
112	Cicero	0.30 µg/L	No	3	B
113	Schaumburg	0.30 µg/L	No	17	B+
114	Evanston	0.30 µg/L	No	1	A+
115	Bolingbrook	0.30 µg/L	No	2	A
116	Skokie	0.30 µg/L	No	9	C-
117	Des Plaines	0.30 µg/L	No	0	B+
118	Oak Lawn	0.30 µg/L	No	2	B
119	Berwyn	0.30 µg/L	No	3	A-
120	Tinley Park	0.30 µg/L	No	0	B+
121	Oak Park	0.30 µg/L	No	2	A
122	Hoffman Estates	0.30 µg/L	No	7	A+
123	Lombard	0.30 µg/L	No	1	A-
124	Elmhurst	0.30 µg/L	No	2	A-
125	Mount Prospect	0.30 µg/L	No	1	B+
126	Carol Stream	0.30 µg/L	No	1	A-
127	Streamwood	0.30 µg/L	No	2	A-
128	Hanover Park	0.30 µg/L	No	3	A
129	Elk Grove	0.30 µg/L	No	2	A-
130	Vernon Hills	0.30 µg/L	No	4	B+
131	Woodridge	0.30 µg/L	No	2	A-
132	Glendale Heights	0.30 µg/L	No	1	A
133	Gurnee	0.30 µg/L	No	4	A
134	Burbank (South Stickney)	0.30 µg/L	No	7	B+
135	Niles	0.30 µg/L	No	3	B
136	New Lenox	0.30 µg/L	No	7	D+
137	Glen Ellyn	0.30 µg/L	No	0	A-
138	Wilmette	0.30 µg/L	No	0	A
139	Morton Grove	0.30 µg/L	No	2	B-
140	Westmont	0.30 µg/L	No	6	B-
141	Elmwood Park	0.30 µg/L	No	3	B+
142	Harvey	0.30 µg/L	No	1	B
143	Maywood	0.30 µg/L	No	3	C+
144	Roselle	0.30 µg/L	No	2	A-
145	Weston	0.30 µg/L	No	6	A
146	South Holland	0.30 µg/L	No	5	B-
147	Dolton	0.30 µg/L	No	2	C
148	Evergreen Park	0.30 µg/L	No	0	B+
149	Mokena	0.30 µg/L	No	2	A
150	Bellwood	0.30 µg/L	No	7	B+
151	Alsip	0.30 µg/L	No	2	A-
152	Oak Brook	0.30 µg/L	No	8	D
153	Hinsdale	0.30 µg/L	No	0	A
154	La Grange	0.30 µg/L	No	1	B
155	Norridge	0.30 µg/L	No	0	A-
156	Chicago Ridge	0.30 µg/L	No	1	A-
157	Lincolnwood	0.30 µg/L	No	1	B+
158	North Lake	0.30 µg/L	No	1	B+
159	Markham	0.30 µg/L	No	7	B
160	River Forest	0.30 µg/L	No	1	B+
161	Schiller Park	0.30 µg/L	No	7	A-
162	Lyons	0.30 µg/L	No	7	A-
163	River Grove	0.30 µg/L	No	3	A-
164	Bridgeview	0.29 µg/L	No	0	A-
165	Zion	0.29 µg/L	No	1	B
166	Arlington Heights	0.29 µg/L	No	1	B-
167	Robinson	0.28 µg/L	No	0	A-
168	Lake Forest	0.28 µg/L	No	58	B-
169	East Peoria	0.28 µg/L	No	133	F
170	Waukegan	0.27 µg/L	No	5	B+
171	Round Lake Beach	0.27 µg/L	No	3	B+
172	Carbondale	0.26 µg/L	No	26	D
173	Lake In The Hills	0.26 µg/L	No	4	A-
174	Grays Lake	0.26 µg/L	No	6	A
175	Mundelein	0.26 µg/L	No	22	F
176	Winnetka	0.25 µg/L	No	0	A
177	Freeport	0.22 µg/L	No	19	B-
178	Round Lake	0.22 µg/L	No	3	A-
179	Glen Carbon	0.20 µg/L	No	0	B
180	Montgomery	0.20 µg/L	No	4	A-
181	Warrenville	0.20 µg/L	No	0	B+

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about vanadium in Illinois

Is vanadium in Illinois tap water harmful?

Vanadium has no federal MCL. The EPA short-term health advisory is 21 µg/L. No cities in Illinois exceed the EPA short-term health advisory. Long-term exposure has been linked to kidney effects in animal studies. Vanadium is most common in groundwater in the western US.

How can I remove vanadium from my drinking water?

Reverse osmosis (RO) systems are highly effective at removing vanadium, typically reducing it by 90% or more. Ion exchange systems also work. Standard activated carbon filters are not effective against vanadium. If your water comes from a private well in the western US, consider testing for vanadium.

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