City of Aurora Drinking Water Lead Action Level Exceedance Notice

Background

The City of Aurora’s Water Production Division has discovered elevated levels of lead in drinking water in some homes. Between January 2025 and June 2025, the City of Aurora’s Water Production Division collected 100 samples of water and analyzed them for lead. More than 10 percent of the samples collected exceeded the EPA’s action level for lead.

The action level, enacted in 1991 as part of the Safe Drinking Water Act, is a regulation that is set to limit the amount of lead and copper in drinking water. In 2024, the Lead & Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) took effect, which strengthened the sampling and monitoring requirements for lead in drinking water to be more protective of public health. As a result, testing within customer homes has shown lead concentrations in drinking water to be higher than previously determined under the Lead Copper Rule (LCR).

This result does not mean that all drinking water in Aurora contains lead. Instead, it serves as a statistical representation of lead found in specific qualified homes that participate in the sampling program. With these results, though, it is required by law that all members of the community are notified, and that further information be provided pertaining to lead in drinking water.

Specific actions being taken by the City of Aurora to mitigate lead exposure risks from drinking water include:

• Ongoing sampling to monitor lead occurrence and levels throughout the water distribution system
• Public education to assist homeowners with actions they can take individually to reduce exposure to lead
• Ongoing removal of lead service lines throughout Aurora
• Evaluation of centralized enhanced corrosion control water treatment to minimize pipe and plumbing components from corroding and contributing to lead dissolving in the water

The City of Aurora will continue its commitment to protecting the health and well-being of every household in the community through proper testing, treatment, and supply of water.

What Does This Mean For Me?

Although some homes may have exceeded the EPA's action level for lead, it is important to note that the water originating from the City of Aurora's Water Treatment Plant does not have lead in it. In fact, Aurora's drinking water fully complies with standards set by the State and Federal government.

Beginning in late 2024, the Illinois EPA instituted new water testing standards (Lead & Copper Rule Revisions), which has contributed to certain homes in the City exceeding the action level for lead.

In the past, Water Treatment Plant staff would sample only the first liter of water that comes out of a faucet in a residential unit to test for lead particles. Now, with the new testing standards, staff must test the first AND fifth liters of water. This testing change will contribute to a higher rate of lead being found, as the fifth liter of water has spent more time in the lead service line, causing more particles to be present when testing. The particles come from the lead service line, not the water treatment plant. As a result of this testing change, certain homes throughout the City now exceed the EPA's action level for lead in water of 15 parts per billion.

The City of Aurora is actively removing lead and galvanized water lines to protect residents. Since 2018, the City has replaced 2,520 lead service lines, with more scheduled to be replaced in the coming years. These efforts will greatly assist in mitigating the chance for any lead particles to end up in household drinking water.

Does My Home Have Lead Service Lines?

Utilize the City of Aurora's interactive Water Service Line Inventory Map to verify if your home has lead service lines or not.

What Is A Lead Action Level?

An action level is a tern used by water utilities to describe the effectiveness of a system’s corrosion control treatment to reduce lead in drinking water. Utilities routinely collect and analyze samples from their system to check if corrosion control is working. Utilities compare the sample results to the EPA standard of 0.015 mg/L (15 ppb). When 10 percent of samples exceed the EPA action level, water utilities must complete actions which include adjusting water treatments, public education, and service line replacement.

An Action Level Exceedance DOES NOT mean that all drinking water in the City's system contains lead. However, it requires that the entire community be notified.

How Lead Service Lines Work

1. The water main comes from the City of Aurora, delivering clean drinking water to residents, free of lead
2. The water service line, owned by the property owner, collects the water from the water main, delivering the water into the household
3. If the service line is made of lead, then the water that flows through the service line will accumulate lead particles
4. The water, after flowing through the lead service line, ends up at the faucet for use

Steps You Can Take To Reduce Your Exposure To Lead In Your Water