Malta, IL
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2025-2025). 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.
Malta at a glance
Malta serves about 1,143 people through 470 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 Dekalb County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL0370350; phone on file: 815-825-2330. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2025 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Malta is 0 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 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. Malta's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 33rd percentile in Illinois and the 28th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Other water systems in Dekalb County
19 other systems share Dekalb County; 8 of them have a higher latest lead result than Malta. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Dekalb | 40,290 | 13 ppb |
| Sycamore | 18,500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sandwich | 7,156 | 2 ppb |
| Northern Illinois University-Dekalb | 6,500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Genoa | 5,298 | 6.3 ppb |
| Cortland | 4,398 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hinckley | 2,006 | 0 (not detected) |
| Somonauk | 1,860 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kirkland | 1,650 | 0 (not detected) |
| Waterman | 1,497 | 8.77 ppb |
What to do in your house
Look up your address in Malta'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 Malta 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. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.