Water Provider Characteristics in Illinois

A Deliverable of the Water Rate Setting Study by the Government Finance Research Center at UIC

Water Rate Setting Study

In 2021, the Illinois General Assembly commissioned the Government Finance Research Center (GFRC) at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) to produce a “Water Rate Setting Study.” This three-year project led to the release of a series of deliverables including reports, papers, datasets, presentations, and other dissemination products, that can all be found on the  GFRC website . The study examined:

  • The components of a water bill
  • Reasons for increases in water rates
  • The definition of affordability throughout the State and any variances to that definition
  • Evidence of rate-setting that utilizes inappropriate practices
  • The extent to which State or local policies drive cost increases or variations in rate-settings
  • Challenges within economically disadvantaged communities in setting water rates
  • Opportunities for increased intergovernmental coordination for setting equitable water rates

This webpage overviews the study's findings focused on the characteristics of municipal water systems.

Water Source

A crucial factor in water rate setting is the source of drinking water. As discussed in  Water Rate Setting in the Lake Michigan Service Area , Northeastern Illinois mainly relies on Lake Michigan surface water that is pumped directly from 12 municipalities and then distributed through both individual and cooperative purchasing agreements to hundreds of other municipalities. Northwestern and Central Illinois rely mostly on groundwater while Southern Illinois exhibit a similar pattern to the Northeastern region, as explored in  Water Rate Setting in Northwestern, Central, and, Southern Illinois .

Use the magnifying glass to search for a location and the map will automatically zoom to the relevant municipality. Click on the municipality to learn more about its water system.

Ownership

Notably, most municipalities in Illinois own the system that provides drinking water to residents. However, 99 of the 1,294 Illinois municipalities rely on private utilities to produce and deliver drinking water to their residents. In addition, 87 municipalities seem to predominantly rely on water provided through private wells. This last practice is more common in sparsely populated municipalities.

Population Served

Using EPA categories of population served by municipal water systems, it is evident that Northwestern, Central, and Southern Illinois mostly consists of systems serving about 100 to 3,300 people (over 80%). In fact, the median population served is equal to 943 residents. The Cities of Rockford and Springfield serve the largest populations, at 147,051 and 117,428 residents respectively. They are the only two municipalities in these regions serving more than 100,000 residents. In fact, the average number of people served by a municipal water system in these regions is 3,197 compared to 31,936 in Northeastern Illinois. Smaller systems, similar to the ones prevalent outside of the Northeastern region, struggle to provide affordable water as they experience high cost per capita.

Municipalities served by private wells, private utilities, and water commissions or districts are excluded from this map.

Qualified Census Tracts

Census tracts are geographic units used to collect statistical information, with a population size between 1,200 and 8,000 people, often covering a contiguous area. The Department of Housing and Urban Development uses information on household income at the census tract level to identify an income standard that accounts for average household size. Then, the agency identifies the percentage of households with an income less than 60% of the income standard, as well as the percentage of households with a poverty rate of at least 25%. Thus, qualified census tracts (QCTs) are tracts in which 50% or more of the households are income or poverty eligible and the population of all census tracts that satisfy these conditions does not exceed 20% of the total population of the respective area.

Of Illinois's 708 QCT's, 499 or approximately 70% are in the Northeastern region.

Regional Analysis

To evaluate how region differ in water source, ownership, and population characteristics, each of the 1,294 municipalities was assigned to a region. This regional classification is aligned with the areas served by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA)’s Public Water Supply regional offices.

Central Illinois has by far the most municipalities with 569, while Northeastern Illinois has 276, Southern Illinois has 275, and Northwestern Illinois has 174.

Regional Analysis Takeaways

  • There are more substantial regional differences for water source than for water provision/ownership.
  • Northwestern and Central Illinois rely much more on ground water, while Northeastern and Southern Illinois predominately rely on surface water, specifically purchased surface water.
  • Private owned water systems and private wells are not particularly prevalent in any region of the state, although they are more represented in Northwestern and Central regions of the state.
  • The City of Chicago accounts for slightly more than half of all QCTs in the entire state, yet by region, QCTs are dispersed across Illinois relatively proportional to the regional population
  • 66.95% or approximately 2/3 of all Illinois residents live in the Northeastern region

Data & Contact Info

To download data, learn about data sources, access the data dictionary, and much more, visit the  GFRC website . For questions, please email   gfrc@uic.edu .