Civic water testing

Official reports measure the plant. Lead shows up at the tap.

Look up a water system, use free government or utility testing when it exists, then publish a certified household result so neighbors are not waiting on a letter that never comes.

Federal dollars already pay for sampling, renter notice, and school testing. Households should ride along. See who actually pays.

Seeded systems

Certified household tests

Tests at or above 10 ppb

Systems with failed or late notice

Chicago household lead vs official series

Certified kitchen-tap results against a seeded official 90th percentile. Action level is 15 ppb today, 10 ppb in 2027.

Where the numbers come from

Official and citizen layers stay separate. Screening strips never trigger a municipal alert.

Beachhead systems

System	Inventory	Notice	Lab tests ≥ 10 ppb
City of Chicago IL0316000	lead	Notice failed	6
City of Benton Harbor MI0000600	grr	Notice late	0
City of Jackson MS0250008	unknown	Notice failed	2
New York City NY7003493	unknown	Notice on time	0

Stories

2025-07-14

Chicago’s required lead-pipe notices mostly did not go out

About 900,000 occupants were due a letter by November 2024. Reporting found roughly 7 percent sent eight months later. Renters were the people least likely to be reached.

2026-08-20

Six lab-verified kitchen taps over 10 ppb in 28 days

Seeded civic cluster for product design. Median 18 ppb, max 47 ppb. This is citizen data, not a utility exceedance.

2022-10-06

Benton Harbor’s lead risk sat inside EPA for years

Action-level exceedances began in 2018. The inspector general found staff did not elevate the public-health risk created after Flint.