Browning, IL
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (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. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
About Browning
Browning serves about 117 people through 63 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 Schuyler County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL1690050; phone on file: 217-322-8545. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Every lead result on file
That is down 5.74 ppb from 5.74 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Browning is 16 ppb across 10 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 5.74 ppb |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2022 | 16 ppb over 15 |
| 2019 | 3.8 ppb |
| 2016 | 6 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. Browning's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 4th percentile in Illinois and the 11th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
4 other systems share Schuyler County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Browning. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Rushville | 3,375 | 4.1 ppb |
| Hickory-Kerton Wtr Coop | 2,358 | 0 (not detected) |
| Camden-Littleton Water Commission | 1,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Dhs Rushville Treatment And Detention | 565 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Browning, 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 Browning 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. More in what a past exceedance means today.