Mishawaka, Indiana

What is the Water Quality in Mishawaka, Indiana?

Compared to other US cities, Mishawaka water quality ranks in the low-mid range for contamination excluding Lead.

Most of their 20 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

• Arsenic is at extremely high levels: 171x health guidelines.
• Radium is also at particularly high levels: 20x health guidelines.

Let’s look closer at what’s in Mishawaka’s water.

What’s in Mishawaka water?

Here are the top 5 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

1. Arsenic – Potential effect: Cancer
2. Bromodichloromethane – Potential effect: Cancer
3. Chloroform – Potential effect: Cancer
4. Haloacetic acids (HAA5) – Potential effect: Cancer
5. Radium – Potential effect: Cancer

These are five of the 20 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

10 of these contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

Does Mishawaka have Lead contamination?

Yes, Mishawaka has lead in its water. Lead samples collected from 2015 through 2017 showed concentrations up to 9.8 parts per billion.

The legal limit for lead is 15 parts per billion. Being well-below this level is a good thing.

• Concentrations between 3.8 ppb and 15 ppb put a formula-fed baby at risk of elevated blood lead levels. Read more about the symptoms of Lead in water.

There is no safe level of lead for humans.

• The good news is that 99.99% of the lead can be removed.

See the What Can You Do? section below to learn how to filter out contaminants.

Where does Mishawaka’s water come from?

Mishawaka’s water comes from the Willow Creek – Saint Joseph River watershed.

Six (6) of the seven waterbodies in the Willow Creek – Saint Joseph River watershed are in Impaired condition. These include:

• Juday Creek
• Saint Joseph River
• Willow Creek

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. See below for what you can do to improve Mishawaka’s water.

Learn more from How’s My Waterway here

What Can You Do?

Information about water quality Mishawaka can be surprising.

But there are things you can do in your home to clean up your water.

To Remove Lead and Other Contaminants In Your Home:

There is one solution that beats Brita, PUR, and expensive whole house systems.

• It costs less per gallon.
• Needs fewer filter changes.
• And it doesn’t make your water taste weird.

• Use Berkey filters with activated carbon to filter out at least 76.5% of contaminants in Mishawaka water.
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Mishawaka water.
  • Brita can filter 7 contaminants and Lead depending on the filter.
  • Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
• To filter out 18 of the 20 contaminants, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.
  • These are typically more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but may require fewer filter changes over time.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • 1,4-Dioxane
    • Arsenic
    • Barium
    • Chloroform
    • Chromium (hexavalent)
    • Molybdenum
    • Nitrates
    • Radium
    • Strontium

In Your Community:

Contact your local government officials and put pressure on them to invest in cleaner waterways and upgraded city water filtration and treatment.

Go to: http://mishawaka.in.gov/government to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Indiana Cities

Indiana Water Quality Page