Elwood, IL
Lead reported as not detected
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 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Elwood at a glance
Elwood serves about 2,229 people through 1,080 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 Will County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL1970350; phone on file: 815-424-1077. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Elwood's lead record
Against the period ending 2024 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Elwood is 1.16 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 1.16 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 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. Elwood's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 41st percentile in Illinois and the 31st nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
49 other systems share Will County; 27 of them have a higher latest lead result than Elwood. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Joliet | 160,000 | 6.53 ppb |
| Il American-West Suburban | 73,978 | 0 (not detected) |
| Romeoville | 50,458 | 8.22 ppb |
| Plainfield | 50,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| New Lenox | 29,200 | 0 (not detected) |
| Il American-Homer Township | 24,543 | 0 (not detected) |
| Frankfort | 24,000 | 0.98 ppb |
| Lockport | 23,100 | 7.6 ppb |
| Crest Hill | 20,223 | 2.14 ppb |
| Mokena | 19,887 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Look up your address in Elwood's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Elwood 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. Small systems behave differently: why small systems go over more often.