Albany, IL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.6 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
About Albany
Albany serves about 846 people through 492 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Whiteside County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL1950050; phone on file: 815-622-8769. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Albany's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (2.2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Albany is 5.9 ppb across 13 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2025 | 2.2 ppb |
| 2024 | 1.8 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.9 ppb |
| 2022 | 5.9 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.8 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.8 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.3 ppb |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 3.2 ppb |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
How Albany compares
Of the 1,744 Illinois systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 22 are over 15 ppb right now and 152 have gone over at some point. Albany's 1.6 ppb sits at the 68th percentile in Illinois and the 65th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
10 other systems share Whiteside County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Albany. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Il American-Sterling | 14,782 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rock Falls | 8,620 | 3.1 ppb |
| Morrison | 4,188 | 4.6 ppb |
| Fulton | 3,346 | 0 (not detected) |
| Prophetstown | 1,946 | 0 (not detected) |
| Erie | 1,479 | 1.2 ppb |
| Tampico | 689 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lyndon | 537 | 0 (not detected) |
| Country Acres Mhp (Whiteside County) | 232 | 0 (not detected) |
| Honeycutt Hill Mhp Llc | 75 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Albany, IL may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Albany whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1500 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.