South Pekin, IL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 ppb (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. 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.
Who runs the water here
South Pekin serves about 996 people through 438 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 Tazewell County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL1790650; phone on file: 309-282-6249. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2025 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for South Pekin is 1 ppb across 10 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 1 ppb |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0.7 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
How South Pekin compares
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. South Pekin's 1 ppb sits at the 60th percentile in Illinois and the 54th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Tazewell County
28 other systems share Tazewell County; 14 of them have a higher latest lead result than South Pekin. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Il American-Pekin | 31,731 | 1 ppb |
| East Peoria | 22,484 | 7 ppb |
| Morton | 17,117 | 0 (not detected) |
| Washington | 14,793 | 0 (not detected) |
| North Tazewell Pwd | 7,625 | 5.1 ppb |
| Creve Coeur | 4,934 | 2.1 ppb |
| Mackinaw | 3,399 | 0 (not detected) |
| Marquette Heights | 2,974 | 1.02 ppb |
| Groveland Township Water District | 2,185 | 5.2 ppb |
| Tremont | 2,114 | 1.2 ppb |
Next steps for South Pekin, IL
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; South Pekin, 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 South Pekin 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.