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.

2015-2017:

FOUND

FOUND ABOVE HEALTH GUIDELINES

FOUND ABOVE LEGAL LIMIT

states detected

27,180

utilities detected

204 million

people served

states over health guideline

187

utilities over health guideline

496,000

people served over health guideline

states over legal limit

utilities over legal limit

475

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	4,044			4,403	27,042,764
California		3	431			1,169	23,135,288
Florida		2	230,189			1,496	18,337,922
New York		41	58,750			1,867	11,775,183
Illinois		34	77,878			1,443	10,242,686
Pennsylvania		33	16,394			1,267	7,835,308
New Jersey		2	836			488	7,820,364
Virginia		0	0			837	6,744,910
Ohio		10	8,631			896	6,509,430
Arizona		2	8,440			375	5,965,914
Massachusetts		0	0			314	5,670,612
Maryland		0	0			232	5,104,124
Colorado		0	0			698	5,080,052
Michigan		0	0			151	4,713,553
Louisiana		14	34,326			753	4,489,360
Wisconsin		4	7,427			788	3,918,775
Missouri		8	2,161			1,284	3,914,957
Indiana		4	11,007			613	3,801,639
Kentucky		0	0			349	3,127,033
Alabama		3	9,948			217	3,070,261
Utah		0	0			387	2,900,607
Oregon		0	0			209	2,841,142
Kansas		1	459			820	2,785,379
Connecticut		0	0			420	2,678,827
Mississippi		0	0			858	2,661,716
Nevada		0	0			117	2,558,145
Tennessee		1	848			122	2,060,510
Oklahoma		1	350			461	2,058,343
Washington		0	0			494	2,025,155
New Mexico		0	0			331	1,408,926
Hawaii		0	0			29	1,256,301
Minnesota		5	4,465			291	1,152,860
West Virginia		8	15,724			386	1,133,002
Rhode Island		0	0			84	984,171
Nebraska		0	0			9	883,441
Delaware		0	0			92	822,913
New Hampshire		0	0			542	794,674
Idaho		0	0			126	737,970
Georgia		0	0			355	699,996
District Of Columbia		0	0			3	648,882
Maine		0	0			316	640,162
North Dakota		0	0			194	440,089
Alaska		0	0			65	345,715
South Dakota		0	0			94	334,351
Montana		1	1,970			277	265,338
Iowa		1	350			155	261,241
South Carolina		0	0			59	211,602
Wyoming		0	0			93	164,990
North Carolina		1	395			57	122,062
Arkansas		1	825			33	72,256
Vermont		0	0			61	54,029

LESS

Filtering technologies that reduce barium

Utilities with the highest amounts of barium, 2015-2017

ALL UTILITIES

LARGE UTILITIES

Utility	Location	Tests	Average level	People served
Meadows Mobile Home Park	Apollo, PA	2 of 2	2,060.0 ppb	250
Seaton	Seaton, IL	13 of 13	2,023.1 ppb	225
Crestwood Estates	Stamford, NY	1 of 1	2,000.0 ppb	100
Redford Water District	Saranac, NY	1 of 1	2,000.0 ppb	500
Cypress Cove	Kissimmee, FL	1 of 1	2,000.0 ppb	289
Nicholson Borough Authority	Nicholson, PA	13 of 13	1,913.1 ppb	850
Cowanshannock M A Sagamore System	Nu Mine, PA	1 of 1	1,890.0 ppb	300
Presidential Estates	Kinderhook, NY	1 of 1	1,870.0 ppb	75
New London Water and Fire Pro Authority*	Cropwell, AL	2 of 2	1,854.4 ppb	5,994
Norma Gardens Apartments	Norwich, NY	12 of 13	1,838.5 ppb	48
Laceyville Water Company	Laceyville, PA	1 of 1	1,798.0 ppb	415
Brentwood Subdivision	Austin, TX	12 of 12	1,756.7 ppb	456
Town and Country Estates	Mansfield, PA	1 of 1	1,750.0 ppb	200
Whispering Winds Mobile Home Park	Pine Valley, NY	1 of 1	1,720.0 ppb	19
Volo	Volo, IL	14 of 14	1,705.0 ppb	25
Holland Water District	Holland, NY	1 of 1	1,680.0 ppb	1,680
Heritage Park Apartments	Lafayette, IN	1 of 1	1,600.0 ppb	47
City of Hialeah	Hialeah, FL	2 of 3	1,566.7 ppb	229,900
Aiken Water Company	Gifford, PA	1 of 1	1,530.0 ppb	850
Port O Call Mobile Home Park	Butler, PA	1 of 1	1,500.0 ppb	326
Worthington West Franklin Jma	Worthington, PA	6 of 6	1,494.7 ppb	1,500
Aqua Pa Factoryville	White Haven, PA	1 of 1	1,492.0 ppb	2,323
Falconhead Prop Owners Association	Burneyville, OK	1 of 1	1,490.0 ppb	350
Arenosa Creek Estates	Houston, TX	1 of 1	1,480.0 ppb	65
Crystal Waters Personal Care	Marion Center, PA	1 of 1	1,440.0 ppb	50
Hillside Acres Mobile Home Park	Kingston, PA	11 of 11	1,427.4 ppb	45
Great Oaks and Beacon Hills Apartments	Farmington Hills, IL	2 of 2	1,420.0 ppb	1,816
Hampshire	Hampshire, IL	3 of 3	1,413.3 ppb	2,999
Meadow Brook M H P	Temple, PA	11 of 11	1,406.0 ppb	224
Lakeshore Court Mobile Home	Troy, OH	1 of 1	1,400.0 ppb	65
Park Dantoine Mobile Home Park	Cambridge, NY	1 of 1	1,370.0 ppb	30
Riverview Communities Lp South	Warren, PA	8 of 8	1,369.8 ppb	100
Smithton PWS	Smithton, MO	2 of 2	1,360.0 ppb	480
Ark Park	Endicott, NY	2 of 2	1,350.0 ppb	170
Pine Valley Acres	Pine Valley, NY	1 of 1	1,340.0 ppb	82
Phil-aire Estates Mobile Home Park	Rockton, IL	1 of 1	1,310.0 ppb	67
Shannon	Shannon, IL	2 of 2	1,310.0 ppb	758
Bradshaw Water Works	Bradshaw, WV	1 of 1	1,310.0 ppb	233
Hanshaw Village	Pittsford, NY	1 of 1	1,300.0 ppb	447
Sandy Hill Estates	Curtisville, PA	1 of 1	1,300.0 ppb	200
Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Park	Dundee, NY	1 of 1	1,300.0 ppb	39
Timber Ridge Mobile Estates	Dixon, IL	1 of 1	1,300.0 ppb	150
Weidas Mobile Home Park	New Milford, PA	1 of 1	1,300.0 ppb	77
Suburban Heights Subdivision	Milan, IL	1 of 1	1,290.0 ppb	82
Monterey Rural Water System Inc.	Monterey, LA	16 of 16	1,276.3 ppb	5,250
Sun Dial Village Mobile Home Park	Blairsville, PA	1 of 1	1,270.0 ppb	83
Meridian Mobile Home Park	Byron, IL	1 of 1	1,270.0 ppb	75
Wagon Wheel Trailer Court	Addison, NY	1 of 1	1,270.0 ppb	42
Summerville Borough Municipal Authority	Summerville, PA	33 of 34	1,252.9 ppb	530
Northstar Mobile Home Park	Caledonia, NY	6 of 6	1,215.5 ppb	200

* 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
City of Hialeah	Hialeah, FL	2 of 3	1,566.7 ppb	229,900
Endicott Municipal Water Works	Endicott, NY	3 of 3	866.4 ppb	45,000
Batavia	Batavia, IL	1 of 1	777.0 ppb	26,348
Sycamore	Sycamore, IL	3 of 4	775.0 ppb	14,000
Cecilia Water Corporation	Cecilia, LA	8 of 8	670.0 ppb	11,529
Dover Water Commission*	Dover, NJ	2 of 2	658.0 ppb	27,806
Crystal Lake	Crystal Lake, IL	5 of 5	631.5 ppb	40,634
Lake Zurich	Lake Zurich, IL	5 of 5	612.2 ppb	18,992
Slippery Rock Municipal Authority	Slippery Rock, PA	2 of 2	602.0 ppb	15,778
Auburn Water Department	Auburn, IN	4 of 4	552.5 ppb	12,800
Water Works District #1 of Vermilion	Maurice, LA	24 of 32	530.0 ppb	21,300
Hawthorne Water Department*	Hawthorne Boro, NJ	4 of 4	466.8 ppb	21,006
Cary	Cary, IL	8 of 8	465.0 ppb	18,713
White City WID	Salt Lake City, UT	2 of 2	453.3 ppb	15,800
Ocean Twp Department of Utilities	Waretown, NJ	2 of 2	450.0 ppb	15,419
Del City	Del City, OK	3 of 3	445.7 ppb	22,128
Huntley	Huntley, IL	6 of 6	441.7 ppb	26,632
South Elgin	South Elgin, IL	11 of 11	439.4 ppb	14,668
Aqua Pa Hatboro	Bryn Mawr, PA	6 of 6	436.5 ppb	12,901
Midwest City*	Midwest City, OK	5 of 5	425.0 ppb	55,935
Horsham Water&sewer Authority*	Horsham, PA	12 of 12	411.5 ppb	25,000
Lake In The Hills	Lake In The Hills, IL	8 of 8	407.5 ppb	28,728
Cromwell Fire District Water Department*	Cromwell, CT	1 of 1	406.0 ppb	14,316
Red Bank Water Department	Red Bank, NJ	2 of 2	400.0 ppb	12,520
South Orange Water Department	South Orange, NJ	1 of 1	400.0 ppb	16,964
Wauconda	Wauconda, IL	6 of 6	397.7 ppb	13,715
De Kalb*	Dekalb, IL	5 of 5	390.2 ppb	41,000
Tinker AFB Bio-env Eng*	Tinker Afb, OK	13 of 13	384.5 ppb	24,645
Plainfield Water Works*	Plainfield, IN	2 of 2	383.0 ppb	18,857
Crowley Water System (LAWCO)	Baton Rouge, LA	8 of 10	378.0 ppb	19,000
Pine Hill Borough MUA	Pine Hill, NJ	3 of 3	377.3 ppb	10,233
Verona Water Department*	Chatham, NJ	2 of 2	376.5 ppb	13,641
Ridgewood Water	Ridgewood, NJ	173 of 175	375.3 ppb	61,700
Jamestown BPU	Jamestown, NY	6 of 6	365.2 ppb	46,712
Livingston Twp Div of Water	Livingston Twp, NJ	9 of 9	362.0 ppb	27,391
City of Lindsay	Lindsay, CA	2 of 2	360.0 ppb	13,445
Lebanon	Lebanon, MO	17 of 17	355.8 ppb	14,300
Lebanon Utilities	Lebanon, IN	4 of 4	351.3 ppb	16,098
Marlboro Township Water Utility Division*	Marlboro, NJ	3 of 5	345.8 ppb	29,480
Montclair Water Bureau*	Montclair, NJ	1 of 1	344.0 ppb	37,669
Orange Water Department	Orange, NJ	1 of 1	336.0 ppb	30,134
City of Orange	Orange, TX	2 of 2	335.0 ppb	19,418
City of Flagstaff	Flagstaff, AZ	10 of 11	334.3 ppb	67,000
City of Humble*	Humble, TX	6 of 6	330.8 ppb	15,338
Frankfort Water Works	Frankfort, IN	2 of 2	324.0 ppb	16,422
Avon Water Company*	Clinton, CT	8 of 8	316.2 ppb	11,590
Ramsey Water Department	Ramsey, NJ	7 of 7	315.9 ppb	15,207
Warminster Municipal Authority*	Warminster, PA	13 of 13	315.4 ppb	40,000
Fitzgerald	Fitzgerald, GA	5 of 5	308.0 ppb	14,011
Sikeston*	Sikeston, MO	2 of 2	303.5 ppb	16,393