East Chicago Water Works, IN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 8 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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.
East Chicago Water Works at a glance
East Chicago Water Works serves about 26,370 people through 7,000 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 Lake County, Indiana. EPA system ID: IN5245012; phone on file: 219-391-8469. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
East Chicago Water Works's lead record
That is down 5 ppb from 13 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for East Chicago Water Works is 13 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 8 ppb |
| 2021 | 13 ppb over 10 |
| 2021 | 4.24 ppb |
| 2018 | 4.1 ppb |
| 2017 | 5.6 ppb |
| 2016 | 8.4 ppb |
Against other Indiana systems
Of the 687 Indiana systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.31 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 36 have gone over at some point. East Chicago Water Works's 8 ppb sits at the 96th percentile in Indiana and the 96th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Lake County
27 other systems share Lake County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than East Chicago Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana American Water - Northwest | 210,510 | 3 ppb |
| Hammond Water Works Department | 78,384 | 3 ppb |
| Crown Point Water Works | 30,000 | 0.7 ppb |
| Schererville Water Department | 30,000 | 1 ppb |
| St. John Municipal Water Utility | 25,700 | 2.9 ppb |
| Highland Water Works | 23,984 | 2.4 ppb |
| Munster Water Company | 23,894 | 2 ppb |
| Griffith Water Department | 16,893 | 1.01 ppb |
| Dyer Water Department | 16,800 | 9.9 ppb |
| Indiana American Water - Lowell | 11,908 | 1 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; East Chicago, IN 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 East Chicago Water Works 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.