Carol Stream, IL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.05 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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 Carol Stream
Carol Stream serves about 39,854 people through 11,574 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Dupage County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL0430200; phone on file: 630-871-6260. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Carol Stream's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (0.84 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Carol Stream is 1.05 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.05 ppb |
| 2025 | 0.84 ppb |
| 2025 | 0.83 ppb |
| 2023 | 0.93 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
Against other Illinois systems
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. Carol Stream's 1.05 ppb sits at the 61st percentile in Illinois and the 56th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
47 other systems share Dupage County; 21 of them have a higher latest lead result than Carol Stream. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Naperville | 156,406 | 6.1 ppb |
| Wheaton | 53,970 | 2.32 ppb |
| Downers Grove | 49,425 | 4.98 ppb |
| Elmhurst | 45,000 | 5.52 ppb |
| Lombard | 44,476 | 10.6 ppb |
| Addison | 38,017 | 2 ppb |
| Woodridge | 33,566 | 0 (not detected) |
| Glendale Heights | 33,176 | 0 (not detected) |
| Glen Ellyn | 28,500 | 1.87 ppb |
| West Chicago | 25,166 | 0.52 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Carol Stream, 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 Carol Stream 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. 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.