West Frankfort, IL
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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.
Who runs the water here
West Frankfort serves about 8,650 people through 4,200 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Franklin County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL0550700; phone on file: 618-932-3262. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
West Frankfort's lead record
That is down 11.3 ppb from 11.3 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for West Frankfort is 11.3 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 11.3 ppb over 10 |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 6.4 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. West Frankfort's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 50th percentile in Illinois and the 37th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
20 other systems share Franklin County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than West Frankfort. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Benton | 8,104 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rend Lake Inter-City Water System | 3,650 | 0 (not detected) |
| Christopher | 3,072 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sesser | 2,556 | 3.27 ppb |
| Greenwood-Creek Nation Water Company | 2,530 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ewing-Ina Water Commission | 2,393 | 0 (not detected) |
| Akin Water District | 2,368 | 0 (not detected) |
| Zeigler | 1,774 | 0 (not detected) |
| Valier | 1,182 | 0 (not detected) |
| Royalton | 1,118 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Look up your address in West Frankfort'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 West Frankfort 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.