Cowden, IL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 5.6 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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.
Who runs the water here
Cowden serves about 534 people through 361 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 Shelby County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL1730050; phone on file: 217-823-1942. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
That is up 4.4 ppb from 1.2 ppb in the period ending 2022. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Cowden is 5.6 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.6 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.2 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.7 ppb |
How Cowden 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. Cowden's 5.6 ppb sits at the 89th percentile in Illinois and the 92nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Shelby County
8 other systems share Shelby County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Cowden. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Shelbyville | 5,600 | 2.1 ppb |
| Moweaqua | 1,785 | 0 (not detected) |
| Windsor | 1,200 | 7.82 ppb |
| Findlay | 750 | 0 (not detected) |
| Stewardson | 734 | 0 (not detected) |
| Tower Hill | 500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sigel | 400 | 0 (not detected) |
| Herrick | 358 | 3.1 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Cowden, 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 Cowden 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.