Seven wells and a treatment plant
The 2022 Crest Hill Consumer Confidence Report names wells 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. The Illinois EPA rates most of them as not susceptible to surface contamination and two, wells 1 and 7, as susceptible. That rating is about spills and leaking tanks near the wellhead. It says nothing about what the aquifer itself puts in the water, which for this part of Will County is hardness and naturally occurring radium.
The radium line, and the line under it
Combined radium in the 2022 report reads 1 pCi/L, well under the federal limit of 5. Gross alpha, the broader measure of radioactivity, ran from 3.67 to 6.37 pCi/L against a limit of 15. Both are treated results. Then, further down, the same report lists a monitoring violation: the city failed to test for combined radium for the 2020 to 2022 period. In the report's own words, because of that failure it cannot be sure of the water quality for that period.
That is not a reason to panic. It is a reason to put your own barrier on the water you drink. An under-sink reverse osmosis unit does not care whether the city ran its test. Read about reverse osmosis and radium in this part of Illinois.
Chlorine at 0.7 to 1.1 ppm
Crest Hill disinfects with chlorine and reports a residual of 0.7 to 1.1 ppm in the system. That is what you smell in the shower and taste at the kitchen tap. Because it is plain chlorine rather than the chloramine Joliet uses, a whole-home carbon tank on standard activated carbon takes it out at the main line for every faucet. Read about whole-house carbon filtration.
PFAS on the EWG list
The EWG Tap Water Database shows 14 contaminants above EWG health guidelines for Crest Hill, the highest count of any town we serve. One of them is PFHxS, a PFAS compound. The water meets federal law; EWG guidelines are stricter. Reverse osmosis is among the treatments that reduce PFAS in drinking water, which is why the RO unit is not an optional extra in a Crest Hill install.
Hardness and the sodium line
The report lists sodium at 83.2 ppm and notes that sodium is used in water softener regeneration, which is the city describing its own treatment. Crest Hill does not print a hardness number in the report. The wells draw from the same regional aquifer as Joliet, where the city rates its water at 12 to 22 grains per gallon. We confirm your number before sizing the softener rather than assume. Read how the softener works.
What we install in Crest Hill
- Salt-based softener at the main line, sized to your confirmed hardness.
- Whole-home carbon tank for the chlorine residual.
- Under-sink reverse osmosis for radium, PFAS and dissolved solids in the water you drink.
All three installed for $2,999. See what the price includes.
Sources: City of Crest Hill 2022 Consumer Confidence Report (wells, radium, gross alpha, chlorine, sodium, monitoring violation), EWG Tap Water Database (2013 to 2023 data), EPA guidance on PFAS and radium treatment, City of Joliet Public Utilities FAQ (regional hardness).