Ottawa, IL
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2026-2028). 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.
Ottawa at a glance
Ottawa serves about 18,097 people through 8,049 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 Lasalle County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL0990800; phone on file: 815-433-0161. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
That is down 4.97 ppb from 4.97 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ottawa is 17.8 ppb across 12 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 4.97 ppb |
| 2025 | 2.06 ppb |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 6.09 ppb |
| 2022 | 9.72 ppb |
| 2021 | 9.06 ppb |
| 2020 | 6.7 ppb |
| 2020 | 7.48 ppb |
| 2019 | 17.8 ppb over 15 |
| 2016 | 6.2 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. Ottawa's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 53rd percentile in Illinois and the 38th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
34 other systems share Lasalle County; 17 of them have a higher latest lead result than Ottawa. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Il American-Streator | 19,000 | 1 ppb |
| Peru | 9,896 | 10.5 ppb |
| La Salle | 9,700 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mendota | 7,100 | 7.06 ppb |
| Marseilles | 5,061 | 0 (not detected) |
| Il American-Lake Holiday | 4,750 | 2 ppb |
| Oglesby | 4,500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Seneca | 2,353 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sheridan Correctional Center | 1,670 | 3.6 ppb |
| Earlville | 1,613 | 3.4 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ottawa, 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 Ottawa 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. More in what a past exceedance means today.