The EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level for total chromium is 0.1 mg/L. Chromium occurs in two main forms in water: trivalent chromium, a naturally occurring trace element generally considered the less concerning form, and hexavalent chromium (“chromium-6”), associated with industrial discharge from steel manufacturing, chrome plating, textile dyeing, and leather tanning, and considered the form of greater health concern.
Importantly, there's currently no separate federal MCL specifically for chromium-6 — it's regulated only as part of the combined total-chromium standard. A standard water test for “chromium” won't tell you which form is present without requesting a speciation test specifically.
Illustrative water-testing concept.
Watch For This
Signs to Look For
No reliable taste, smell or color indicator at regulated levels
A property near industrial, manufacturing, steel, or chrome-plating activity
No recent water test distinguishing total chromium from hexavalent chromium specifically
An older well with no comprehensive heavy-metals test on file
How We Fix It
Reverse Osmosis System
Reverse Osmosis System
Reverse osmosis filtration reduces chromium, in both its common forms, as part of the broader range of dissolved metals its membrane is built to address.
Note: this is addressed by our reverse osmosis drinking-water system specifically — our whole-house filtration systems are not designed or certified to remove it.
Curious What's In Your Water?
We'll test it for free and show you exactly what a system would remove.
Trivalent chromium is a naturally occurring trace element and the less concerning form. Hexavalent chromium (chromium-6) comes mainly from industrial discharge and is considered the form of greater health concern.
Not currently at the federal level — it's regulated only as part of the combined total-chromium standard of 0.1 mg/L, not with its own separate limit.
Both from natural geological sources (trivalent chromium) and from industrial discharge near manufacturing, steel, or plating facilities (more often hexavalent chromium).
