Freeport's water system shows 14 contaminants above independent health guidelines, while remaining in compliance with federal standards. Legal limits and health guidelines are two different lines. Both are shown below, with sources, along with what a water filtration system in Freeport should actually address. Call (815) 420-4731.
All 14 of them, worst first, from Freeport's own published tests. Tap any contaminant to see what it is, how it gets into the water, and what long-term exposure is linked to.
Long-term exposure: Associated with thyroid and immune effects. EPA regulates it as of 2024 under a combined hazard index rather than a number of its own.
A shorter-chain forever chemical that was marketed as the safer replacement for the older ones. It moves through soil faster, which is exactly why it reaches drinking water wells.
Handled by: Reverse osmosis
Long-term exposure: Same family, same associated cancer risk, but four of the nine are not federally regulated at all. They never appear on a violation report no matter how high they run.
HAA9 counts nine haloacetic acids instead of the five the law tracks. When HAA9 is much higher than HAA5 in your report, the gap is the part nobody is legally required to control.
Handled by: Carbon filter at the main line
Long-term exposure: The research behind EPA's own limit associates long-term elevated exposure with increased bladder cancer risk. Several studies also flag effects during pregnancy.
Nobody added this. TTHMs are the sum of four byproducts that form when the chlorine used to disinfect your water meets leaves, algae and other organic matter in the source. The disinfection is necessary. The byproducts are what it costs you.
Handled by: Carbon filter at the main line
Long-term exposure: EPA classifies it as a probable human carcinogen. Long-term exposure is associated with liver, kidney and intestinal effects.
Forms when chlorine meets naturally occurring bromide in the source water. Of the four trihalomethanes, this is one of the two the research treats most seriously.
Handled by: Carbon filter at the main line
Long-term exposure: The second major byproduct family. Long-term exposure is associated with increased cancer risk, and some studies flag developmental effects.
HAA5 is the sum of five haloacetic acids, formed the same way the trihalomethanes are. Federally capped at 60 parts per billion. The independent health guideline is 0.1.
Handled by: Carbon filter at the main line
Long-term exposure: Radium is radioactive. The body treats it like calcium, so it deposits in bone, and long-term exposure raises bone cancer risk.
Northern Illinois sits on a deep sandstone aquifer that is naturally radioactive. The radium comes up with the water. The federal limit of 5 picocuries per liter was set in 1976 and has not been revisited since.
Handled by: Water softener (EPA-recognized ion exchange), or reverse osmosis
Long-term exposure: EPA classifies it as a possible human carcinogen; animal studies show liver damage at sustained exposure.
Another chlorine-plus-bromide byproduct. It travels with the other three, so where you find one you almost always find all four.
Handled by: Carbon filter at the main line
Long-term exposure: Associated with cancer risk in animal studies. It is one of the four counted in HAA9 but left out of the federally regulated HAA5.
A haloacetic acid the law does not track. Your utility can be in perfect compliance while this one runs at any level at all, because there is no number for it to exceed.
Handled by: Carbon filter at the main line
Long-term exposure: Classified by the international cancer agency as possibly carcinogenic to humans, with liver and kidney effects at sustained high exposure.
The most common of the four trihalomethanes, and usually the largest single share of the total. It forms in the pipes on the way to your house, which is why the level at your tap can be higher than the level leaving the plant.
Handled by: Carbon filter at the main line
Long-term exposure: Associated with liver effects in animal studies and classified as a possible human carcinogen.
Another individual haloacetic acid. It rises and falls with the chlorine dose and the season, so a single test is a snapshot, not a ceiling.
Handled by: Carbon filter at the main line
Long-term exposure: EPA classifies it as a probable human carcinogen; animal studies show liver effects.
A single member of the haloacetic acid family, reported on its own because it is usually the largest share of the group.
Handled by: Carbon filter at the main line
Long-term exposure: Associated with immune suppression, thyroid disease, liver effects, and some cancers. EPA set its first federal limit in 2024 at 4 parts per trillion.
The other headline forever chemical, and the one most often traced to firefighting foam used at airports and training sites. It accumulates in blood serum and stays there for years.
Handled by: Reverse osmosis
Long-term exposure: Linked to kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol, reduced vaccine response in children, and pregnancy complications. EPA set the first federal limit for it in 2024 at 4 parts per trillion.
A forever chemical. It does not break down in the environment and it does not break down in you; its half-life in the human body is measured in years. Manufacturing, firefighting foam and older consumer products put it in the groundwater.
Handled by: Reverse osmosis
Long-term exposure: Long-term exposure through drinking water is associated with stomach and intestinal cancer. There is no federal limit for the hexavalent form at all; it is covered only under a total chromium limit written in 1991.
The Erin Brockovich chemical. It comes from both industrial discharge and natural erosion. California proposed a public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion. The federal government still has no dedicated standard for it.
Handled by: Reverse osmosis
Levels are the utility's own most recent published test results as compiled by the EWG Tap Water Database. "Times over" compares against EWG's independent health guideline, not the federal legal limit; this system meets federal limits.
Installed by a licensed Illinois plumber, tested at handoff, first year of care included. Pick one and change anything: the installed total follows you.
Sources: EWG Tap Water Database, Freeport · Lead information for this utility · Illinois EPA Drinking Water Watch
Nearby: Mendota · Princeton · Woosung · Grand Detour
The report is free, the call is 15 minutes, and nobody ever comes to your house to sell you. One licensed crew. A limited number of installs each month.