Ottawa, IL Water Quality
Is Ottawa's water safe to drink?
Ottawa had a health-based violation within the last five years. The required corrective action was reported, but it happened recently enough to matter. Population served: 18,097, over 8,049 connections.
Ottawa's record against the rest of the country
Out of 12,903 systems in this dataset, Ottawa ranks 841th by violation burden (93th percentile) - 88 violations total, 21 health-based.
Against the IL average
Among the 572 IL systems in this dataset, the average is 5.1 health-based violations - Ottawa's 21 is above that. See the lead and copper guide for why lead counts differently.
Most recent violation on record
Ottawa's most recent violation on record is dated 2025-02-07, with the most recent health-based one dated 2023-01-07. Last reported to EPA: 05/27/2026.
The concern categories on record
Ottawa's flagged contaminants and rule violations, grouped by what they actually mean for a filter choice rather than left as EPA's raw code list:
- Lead & copper - flagged from: Lead and Copper Rule
- Microbial contamination / treatment technique - flagged from: Coliform (TCR)
- Radionuclides - flagged from: Combined Radium (-226 and -228); Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U
The most severe category on record is lead & copper, which points toward a lead-class filter if you want to address it directly.
What Ottawa's record does not cover
Everything on this page is Ottawa's own reported record under the Safe Drinking Water Act - a regulatory filing, not a sample of your tap. Water quality can still change between the meter and the faucet - household plumbing sits outside what a record of 88 logged violations can see. The guide to what this data misses covers that gap.