Bowen, IL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 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 Bowen
Bowen serves about 494 people through 270 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Hancock County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL0670200; phone on file: 217-842-9060. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Bowen's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Bowen is 4.1 ppb across 15 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 ppb |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 2.5 ppb |
| 2023 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.9 ppb |
| 2021 | 4.1 ppb |
| 2020 | 3.8 ppb |
| 2020 | 2.2 ppb |
| 2016 | 1.2 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. Bowen's 1 ppb sits at the 60th percentile in Illinois and the 53rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
10 other systems share Hancock County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Bowen. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton | 2,753 | 0 (not detected) |
| Carthage | 2,510 | 0 (not detected) |
| Warsaw | 1,480 | 2.9 ppb |
| Laharpe | 1,200 | 0 (not detected) |
| Nauvoo | 1,200 | 2.4 ppb |
| Dallas City | 788 | 0 (not detected) |
| Augusta | 553 | 4.3 ppb |
| Plymouth | 460 | 10 ppb |
| West Point | 248 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elvaston | 165 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Bowen, IL
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Bowen, 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 Bowen 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.