Barium

Status: National drinking water standard exists

Barium is a mineral present in rocks, soil and water. High concentrations of barium in drinking water increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and hypertension.

2017-2019:

FOUND

FOUND ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES

FOUND ABOVE LEGAL LIMIT

states detected

28,589

utilities detected

210 million

people served

states over health guideline

180

utilities over health guideline

236,000

people served over health guideline

states over legal limit

utilities over legal limit

2,483

people served over legal limit

Health concerns for barium

Harm to the kidney

High blood pressure

Harm to the heart and blood vessels

State and national drinking water standards and health guidelines

EWG Health Guideline 700 ppb

The EWG Health Guideline of 700 ppb for barium was defined by EWG as benchmark that protects against harm to the kidneys and the cardiovascular system.

EPA Maximum Contaminant
Level (MCL) 2,000 ppb

The legal limit for barium, established in 1991, was based on a 10-week study of barium exposure in 11 adult male volunteers. This limit does not include any additional consideration of children’s health.

ppb = parts per billion

States reporting barium in drinking water

	UTILITIES REPORTING ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES			UTILITIES WITH CONTAMINATION
State	Utilities	People Served		Utilities	People Served
Texas		7	4,685			4,269	27,717,357
California		3	710			1,060	23,971,405
Florida		1	125			1,486	18,743,129
New York		39	12,167			1,942	11,997,418
Illinois		34	93,450			1,483	9,864,514
Pennsylvania		37	34,494			1,253	8,664,054
New Jersey		1	2,035			452	7,736,287
Virginia		0	0			803	6,786,364
Arizona		2	9,095			418	6,084,514
Ohio		11	9,861			849	5,957,738
Colorado		0	0			787	5,860,708
Massachusetts		0	0			311	5,661,836
Maryland		0	0			217	5,090,709
Michigan		1	65			420	5,042,732
Alabama		0	0			324	4,305,788
Missouri		7	1,681			1,268	3,965,782
Wisconsin		5	8,162			971	3,957,208
Indiana		7	11,612			565	3,518,855
Louisiana		11	19,420			566	3,341,485
Utah		1	15,800			422	3,216,068
Kentucky		0	0			348	3,172,215
Oregon		0	0			390	3,084,002
Mississippi		0	0			1,014	3,022,158
Kansas		0	0			821	2,859,618
Nevada		0	0			128	2,773,411
Connecticut		0	0			427	2,679,597
Oklahoma		2	3,427			400	1,893,421
Tennessee		0	0			109	1,801,526
New Mexico		0	0			412	1,698,938
Washington		0	0			573	1,601,239
Minnesota		0	0			354	1,512,990
Hawaii		0	0			31	1,261,387
Nebraska		0	0			333	1,206,947
West Virginia		5	6,097			377	1,130,101
Rhode Island		0	0			84	988,838
Idaho		0	0			508	986,440
Georgia		0	0			385	957,338
New Hampshire		0	0			541	802,820
Delaware		0	0			85	744,861
District Of Columbia		0	0			3	648,882
Maine		0	0			310	643,094
South Carolina		0	0			64	526,690
North Dakota		0	0			181	475,299
Montana		2	2,655			289	398,837
Alaska		2	110			187	389,304
South Dakota		0	0			93	334,276
Iowa		0	0			72	203,942
Wyoming		0	0			79	179,428
Arkansas		0	0			36	74,359
Vermont		0	0			63	58,102
North Carolina		2	230			26	57,779

LESS

Filtering technologies that reduce barium

Utilities with the highest amounts of barium, 2017-2019

ALL UTILITIES

LARGE UTILITIES

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
Choconut Creek Apartments	Binghamton, PA	5 of 5	2,194.4 ppb	50
Crestwood Estates	Stamford, NY	2 of 2	2,150.0 ppb	100
Norma Gardens Apartments	Norwich, NY	22 of 23	2,137.0 ppb	48
Meadows Mobile Home Park	Apollo, PA	4 of 4	2,117.5 ppb	250
Seaton	Seaton, IL	28 of 28	1,917.1 ppb	200
Hampshire	Hampshire, IL	11 of 11	1,720.0 ppb	5,563
Nicholson Borough Authority	Nicholson, PA	22 of 22	1,699.1 ppb	789
Whispering Winds Mobile Home Park	Pine Valley, NY	2 of 2	1,677.5 ppb	19
Laceyville Water Company	Laceyville, PA	4 of 4	1,634.5 ppb	415
Summerville Borough Municipal Authority	Summerville, PA	48 of 49	1,627.3 ppb	700
Town and Country Estates	Richmond, PA	2 of 2	1,600.0 ppb	200
Arenosa Creek Estates	Houston, TX	2 of 2	1,575.0 ppb	65
Brentwood Subdivision	Austin, TX	24 of 24	1,550.6 ppb	453
Worthington West Franklin Jma	Worthington, PA	12 of 12	1,511.3 ppb	1,500
Falconhead Prop Owners Association	Burneyville, OK	1 of 1	1,490.0 ppb	350
Great Oaks and Beacon Hills Apartments	Bloomfield Hills, IL	4 of 4	1,472.5 ppb	2,420
Aqua Pa Factoryville	White Haven, PA	2 of 2	1,471.0 ppb	2,323
Park Dantoine Mobile Home Park	Cambridge, NY	2 of 2	1,450.0 ppb	30
Port O Call Mobile Home Park	Butler, PA	2 of 2	1,425.0 ppb	276
Shannon	Shannon, IL	4 of 4	1,415.0 ppb	757
Lakeshore Court Mobile Home	Troy, OH	2 of 2	1,405.0 ppb	65
Gilberts	Gilberts, IL	8 of 8	1,397.5 ppb	7,200
Heritage Park Apartments	Lafayette, IN	2 of 2	1,380.5 ppb	47
Riverview Communities Lp South	Warren, PA	8 of 8	1,379.6 ppb	100
Hanshaw Village	Pittsford, NY	2 of 2	1,365.0 ppb	447
Cowanshannock M A Sagamore System	Nu Mine, PA	3 of 3	1,363.3 ppb	300
Northstar Mobile Home Park	Caledonia, NY	14 of 14	1,349.1 ppb	200
Crystal Waters Personal Care	Home, PA	2 of 2	1,335.0 ppb	80
Wynstone Water Company	N. Barrington, IL	6 of 6	1,320.0 ppb	1,421
Pingree Grove	Pingree Grove, IL	4 of 4	1,312.5 ppb	8,165
Bradshaw Water Works	Bradshaw, WV	2 of 2	1,305.0 ppb	233
Aiken Water Company	Gifford, PA	2 of 2	1,300.0 ppb	850
Sandy Hill Estates	Curtsville, PA	2 of 2	1,300.0 ppb	325
Suburban Heights Subdivision	Milan, IL	2 of 2	1,300.0 ppb	57
Pine Valley Acres	Pine Valley, NY	2 of 2	1,285.0 ppb	82
Ark Park	Endicott, NY	3 of 3	1,283.3 ppb	170
Holland Water District	Holland, NY	4 of 4	1,231.8 ppb	1,680
Hopewell Borough Water Department	Hopewell, NJ	2 of 2	1,225.5 ppb	2,035
Holland Hills Apartments	Buffalo, NY	2 of 2	1,216.0 ppb	50
Moore S Resort	Napa, CA	1 of 1	1,200.0 ppb	330
Russells Point Village Public Water System	Russells Point, OH	2 of 2	1,185.0 ppb	1,605
Spicer	Spicer, MN	1 of 1	1,180.0 ppb	1,209
New London	New London, MN	1 of 1	1,180.0 ppb	1,251
Glacial Lakes Sanitary Sewer/water District*	Spicer, MN	1 of 1	1,180.0 ppb	1,335
Country Estates	Guilderland, NY	2 of 2	1,171.5 ppb	150
Timber Ridge Mobile Estates	Dixon, IL	2 of 2	1,170.0 ppb	150
Woodland A and B Mobile Home Park	Milan, IL	4 of 4	1,152.5 ppb	490
Cherrydale Subdivision	Milan, IL	2 of 2	1,150.0 ppb	80
Burlington	Burlington, IL	2 of 2	1,150.0 ppb	618
Spring Valley Mobile Home Park	London, OH	2 of 2	1,134.0 ppb	96

* This water utility supplies finished drinking water to at least one other water utility. The purchasing utility is not required to test for or report Barium, but it likely has the contaminant in its water supply.

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
Sycamore	Sycamore, IL	10 of 11	991.1 ppb	17,600
City of Hialeah	Hialeah, FL	3 of 5	940.3 ppb	240,000
Lake Zurich	Lake Zurich, IL	17 of 17	855.1 ppb	20,022
Endicott Municipal Water Works	Endicott, NY	5 of 5	702.5 ppb	45,000
Cecilia Water Corporation	Cecilia, LA	14 of 14	644.3 ppb	11,529
White City WID	Sandy, UT	9 of 9	633.9 ppb	15,800
South Orange Water Department	South Orange, NJ	5 of 5	615.2 ppb	16,964
Lake In The Hills	Lake In The Hills, IL	17 of 17	558.8 ppb	28,965
Slippery Rock Municipal Authority	Slippery Rock, PA	4 of 4	558.5 ppb	15,778
Auburn Water Department	Auburn, IN	6 of 6	538.3 ppb	12,800
Cary	Cary, IL	16 of 16	527.5 ppb	18,271
Batavia	Batavia, IL	3 of 3	524.0 ppb	26,345
Huntley	Huntley, IL	12 of 12	517.5 ppb	26,632
Water Works District #1 of Vermilion	Maurice, LA	62 of 70	507.6 ppb	21,600
Hawthorne Water Department*	Hawthorne Boro, NJ	8 of 8	505.8 ppb	21,006
Crystal Lake	Crystal Lake, IL	11 of 11	490.9 ppb	40,743
South Elgin	South Elgin, IL	24 of 24	475.8 ppb	22,549
Montclair Water Bureau*	Montclair, NJ	4 of 4	473.8 ppb	37,669
Aqua Pa Hatboro	Bryn Mawr, PA	11 of 11	454.4 ppb	12,901
Tinker AFB Bio-env Eng*	Tinker Afb, OK	30 of 30	446.8 ppb	24,645
Del City	Del City, OK	9 of 9	437.1 ppb	22,128
West Chicago	West Chicago, IL	6 of 6	422.2 ppb	27,086
Livingston Twp Div of Water	Livingston Twp, NJ	21 of 21	420.2 ppb	27,391
Midwest City	Midwest City, OK	19 of 19	417.0 ppb	55,935
De Kalb*	Dekalb, IL	11 of 11	389.5 ppb	45,000
Plainfield Water Works*	Plainfield, IN	4 of 4	386.3 ppb	18,857
Horsham Water&sewer Authority	Horsham, PA	20 of 20	374.7 ppb	25,000
Cromwell Fire District Water Department	Cromwell, CT	2 of 2	373.5 ppb	14,316
East Orange Water Commission*	East Orange, NJ	3 of 3	370.3 ppb	75,000
Jamestown BPU	Jamestown, NY	12 of 12	367.5 ppb	46,712
Ridgewood Water	Ridgewood, NJ	344 of 346	361.6 ppb	61,700
Ramsey Water Department	Ramsey, NJ	14 of 14	351.4 ppb	15,207
Lebanon	Lebanon, MO	24 of 24	348.8 ppb	14,709
Frankfort Water Works	Frankfort, IN	4 of 4	343.5 ppb	16,422
Lebanon Utilities	Lebanon, IN	6 of 6	341.3 ppb	16,098
City of Lindsay	Lindsay, CA	4 of 4	335.0 ppb	13,445
Geneva	Geneva, IL	3 of 3	333.1 ppb	21,495
Cottonwood Municipal Water Cw1	Cottonwood, AZ	7 of 7	329.6 ppb	10,895
City of Edmond - Arcadia Lake*	Arcadia, OK	51 of 51	329.1 ppb	79,408
Dover Water Commission*	Dover, NJ	2 of 4	329.0 ppb	27,806
City of Flagstaff	Flagstaff, AZ	13 of 14	327.7 ppb	67,000
City of Humble*	Humble, TX	11 of 11	324.2 ppb	15,338
Fitzgerald	Fitzgerald, GA	10 of 10	315.0 ppb	14,011
Newtown Artesian Water Company	Newtown, PA	6 of 6	313.8 ppb	38,500
Verona Water Department*	Chatham, NJ	4 of 4	313.3 ppb	13,641
Warminster Municipal Authority*	Warminster, PA	16 of 16	311.9 ppb	40,000
City of Orange	Orange, TX	5 of 5	307.4 ppb	18,643
Willmar	Willmar, MN	2 of 2	302.5 ppb	20,008
Indiana American Water - Johnson County*	Greenwood, IN	3 of 3	300.0 ppb	79,205
Syracuse City Water System	Syracuse, UT	2 of 2	299.1 ppb	28,500