Altamont, IL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.3 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). 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 Altamont
Altamont serves about 2,610 people through 1,357 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 surface water, in Effingham County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL0490050; phone on file: 618-483-6370. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
That is up 1.3 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Altamont is 1.9 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 1.9 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Altamont's 1.3 ppb sits at the 65th percentile in Illinois and the 61st nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
10 other systems share Effingham County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Altamont. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Effingham | 12,252 | 1.7 ppb |
| Lake Sara Area Water Co-Op, Inc. | 4,071 | 0 (not detected) |
| Teutopolis | 2,018 | 0 (not detected) |
| Heartville Pwd | 1,125 | 0 (not detected) |
| Dieterich | 900 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ej Water-Watson | 754 | 1.7 ppb |
| Beecher City | 500 | 12.1 ppb |
| Edgewood | 440 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ej Water-Montrose | 201 | 1 ppb |
| Snake Trail Wtr Assn | 120 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Altamont, IL
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Altamont, 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 Altamont whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.