Fox Lake, IL
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.2 ppb (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.
Fox Lake at a glance
Fox Lake serves about 11,780 people through 4,122 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 groundwater, in Lake County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL0970200; phone on file: 847-587-8570. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
That is down 2.9 ppb from 6.1 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Fox Lake is 17 ppb across 16 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3.2 ppb |
| 2025 | 6.1 ppb |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2025 | 6.4 ppb |
| 2024 | 3.4 ppb |
| 2024 | 3.2 ppb |
| 2023 | 17 ppb over 15 |
| 2023 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2022 | 3.7 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2020 | 3 ppb |
| 2020 | 3 ppb |
| 2019 | 5.1 ppb |
| 2019 | 5.2 ppb |
| 2018 | 5.1 ppb |
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. Fox Lake's 3.2 ppb sits at the 81st percentile in Illinois and the 84th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
103 other systems share Lake County; 29 of them have a higher latest lead result than Fox Lake. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Waukegan | 87,149 | 10 ppb |
| Vernon Hills - Lake Co Pw | 33,207 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mundelein | 31,500 | 4.3 ppb |
| Gurnee | 30,193 | 0.3 ppb |
| Highland Park | 30,176 | 0 (not detected) |
| Round Lake Beach | 27,200 | 0 (not detected) |
| Zion | 24,442 | 11.2 ppb |
| Great Lakes Naval Training Station | 23,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Grayslake | 21,248 | 11 ppb |
| Libertyville | 20,500 | 5.61 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ingleside, 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 Fox Lake whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1580 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.