Lead Service Line Community Updates

City of Elgin

At the request of Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA), the City of Elgin has issued public notice to residents regarding elevated lead levels in the community’s drinking water.  Illinois EPA has calculated a Lead Action Level Exceedance (ALE) of 21 parts per billion (ppb) for the July – December 2022 monitoring period.  The federal Lead Action Level is 15 ppb.  

Illinois EPA has been working proactively with the City of Elgin to address lead issues in recent years.  In January 2022, Illinois EPA issued a Lead ALE to the City based on its 90th percentile lead level of 22.5 ppb for the July – December 2021 monitoring period.  The City subsequently met the lead action level during January – June 2022.  As a result of the December 2022 ALE, and in close consultation with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Illinois EPA has requested the City implement several short term measures to protect public health in addition to implementing additional long-term measures, as well as shortening the timelines on other long-term measures already in progress.

Links:

City of Elgin Website - Lead Information
City of Elgin Public Education Notice
U.S. EPA - Basic Information About Lead in Drinking WaterU.S. EPA - City of Elgin Drinking Water Webpage
Letter from U.S. EPA to Illinois EPA re: City of Elgin
Letter from Illinois EPA to U.S. EPA re: City of Elgin
Letter from Illinois EPA to City of Elgin re: Lead Mitigation Measures