LEad safety

Aqua Illinois maintains information on lead and drinking water. Lead is not typically found in the streams, reservoirs or wells that serve as water supplies or in the main water lines that carry water from treatment plants to homes. Yet, the chemical properties of water can cause lead and other metals to leach into drinking water. The main source of lead in drinking water is from lead service lines (the pipes that deliver water from water mains in the street and into homes) and from typical household plumbing (lead solder and brass fixtures) that contains lead. Households that have, or suspect having, lead service lines or lead in their household plumbing are strongly encouraged to replace them. The use of lead in solder was prohibited after 1986, so buildings constructed after then should not have contained lead in the solder. Learn more 

Protecting our water

Septic systems can be a source of pathogens, primarily when they are not functioning properly. These systems are used to treat waste on-site, especially for individual homes in rural areas where larger sewer systems and treatment are not available. A septic system allows solid wastes to settle in a tank and liquid wastes to be distributed into a leachfield in the soil, where waste is decomposed by soil organisms. There may be several reasons that
treatment in a septic system would fail and could thus be a source of pathogenic contamination, especially in groundwater. Learn more

Action Ideas

The Groundwater Foundation offers several action items you can take to reduce pollution. "We’re all incredibly busy. You may think that you don’t have time to do anything to protect your drinking water. But you might be amazed to learn what you can do with just a little bit of spare time." Learn more