Lead Action Level Exceedance Notice

Drinking Water Warning

Sampling shows elevated lead levels in some homes

The City of Aurora’s Water Production Division has discovered elevated levels of lead in drinking water in some homes. The city may also have tested your home or building.  If so, you should receive or may have already received these results.  These results are specific to your home/building and may be different from the results taken in other locations.

Lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children.  Please read this information closely to see what you can do to reduce lead in your drinking water.

What is an Action Level?

The lead action level is a measure of the effectiveness of corrosion control treatment in water systems. The action level is not a standard for establishing a safe level of lead in a home. To check if corrosion control is working, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires water systems to test for lead at the tap in certain homes, including those with lead service lines. Systems compare sample results from homes to the EPA’s action level of 0.015 mg/L (15 ppb). If 10 percent of the samples from these homes have water concentrations that are greater than the action level, then the city must perform actions such as public education, adjusting treatment, and lead service line replacement.

What Happened?

Between January 2025 and June 2025, the City of Aurora’s Water Production Division collected 100 samples and analyzed them for lead. More than 10 percent of the samples collected exceeded the EPA’s action level for lead. 

The city is committed to protecting the health and well-being of every household in the community through proper testing, treatment, and supply of water. It is important to note, however, that lead from water service lines and lead plumbing and fixtures can dissolve or break off into the water supply, ending up at the faucet. Specific sources of lead typically include lead service lines and lead solder used with copper plumbing. 

This does not mean that every property that receives drinking water from the City of Aurora’s Water Production Division has lead in the drinking water.  It does mean, though, that you should understand how to reduce your exposure to lead through water.  Keep in mind that drinking water is not the only potential source of lead exposure, since lead can be found in air, soil, and paint.  For more information on all sources of lead, visit https://www.epa.gov/lead.

Health Effects of Lead

Exposure to lead in drinking water can cause serious health effects in all age groups. Infants and children can have decreases in IQ and attention span. Lead exposure can lead to new learning and behavior problems or exacerbate existing learning and behavior problems. The children of women who are exposed to lead before or during pregnancy can have increased risk of these adverse health effects. Adults can have increased risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney, or nervous system problems.

Steps You Can Take to Reduce Your Exposure to Lead in Your Water

Below are recommended actions that you may take, separately or in combination, if you are concerned about lead in your drinking water. The list also includes where you may find more information and is not intended to be a complete list or to imply that all actions equally reduce lead from drinking water.

• Use your filter properly. Using a filter can reduce the amount of lead found in drinking water. If you use a filter, it should be certified to remove lead. Read any directions provided with the filter to learn how to properly install, maintain, and use your cartridge and when to replace it. Using the cartridge after it has expired can make it less effective at removing lead. Do not run hot water through the filter. For more information on facts and advice on home water filtration systems, visit the EPA’s website and use the EPA’s Consumer Tool for Identifying Drinking Water Filters Certified to Reduce Lead.

• Clean your aerator. Regularly remove and clean your faucet’s screen (also known as an aerator). Sediment, debris, and lead particles can collect in your aerator. If lead particles are caught in the aerator, lead can get into your water.

• Use cold water. Do not use hot water from the tap for drinking, cooking, or making baby formula, as lead dissolves more easily into hot water. Boiling water does not remove lead from water.

• Run your water. The more time that water has been sitting in your home’s pipes, the more lead it may contain. Before drinking, flush your home’s pipes by running the tap, taking a shower, doing laundry, or doing a load of dishes. The amount of time to run the water will depend on whether your home has a lead service line or not, as well as the length and diameter of the service line and the amount of plumbing in your home. Residents may contact the City of Aurora’s Water Production Division at 630-256-3250 for recommendations regarding flushing times.

• Learn what your service line material is. In 2024, the City of Aurora provided notification to residents regarding the presence of a lead service line to their home or building. Additional information is available at this link: https://lead-service-cityofaurora.hub.arcgis.com/

• Learn about construction in your neighborhood. Contact the Engineering Division at 630-256-3200 to find out about any construction or maintenance work that could disturb your service line. Construction may cause more lead to be released from a lead service line if present; however, when this occurs, the city will immediately provide a temporary lead filtration device and will also replace the disturbed line at no cost within 30 days.

• Have your water tested. Upon request, the Water Production Division will provide customer assistance with water sampling procedures.Email the Water Production Division at leadtesting@aurora.il.us. The Water Production Division works with the following certified laboratories for lead testing...

• First Environmental Laboratories Inc.
  1600 Shore Road
  Naperville, IL 60563
  Phone: 630-778-1200

• Eurofins Eaton Analytical 
  110 S Hill Street
  South Bend, IN 46617
  Phone: 574-233-4777

Get Your Child Tested to Determine Lead Levels in His or Her Blood

A family doctor or pediatrician can perform a blood test for lead and provide information about the health effects of lead. State, city, or county departments of health can also provide information about how you can have your child’s blood tested for lead. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that public health actions be initiated when the level of lead in a child’s blood is 3.5 micrograms per deciliter (ug/dL) or more. For more information and links to CDC’s website, please visit https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/basic-information-about-lead-drinking-water.

What is Being Done?

The actions that we are taking are established by federal and state regulations pertaining to lead in drinking water. These include

• Continued tap water sampling of designated homes and buildings.

• Public education information provided herein.

• Ongoing planned removal of lead service lines throughout Aurora.

• Determining which corrosion control treatment strategy would be most effective in addressing this situation. Corrosion control treatment at the treatment plant is intended to minimize pipe and plumbing components from corroding and leading to the possibility of lead dissolving into the water.

• Implementation of new corrosion control treatment will be completed as soon as possible upon receipt of regulatory approval.

Please share this information with all people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

This notice is being sent to you by the City of Aurora Water System, 44 E. Downer Place, Aurora, IL 60507. State Public Water System (PWS) ID# IL0894070.

Date Published: 7/14/2025

Advertencia Sobre El Agua Potable

Las muestras revelan niveles elevados de plomo en algunos hogares.

La División de Producción de Agua de la Ciudad de Aurora ha detectado niveles elevados de plomo en el agua potable de algunos hogares. Es posible que la Ciudad también haya analizado su casa o edificio. De ser así, debería haber recibido o quizás ya haya recibido estos resultados. Estos resultados son específicos de su casa o edificio y pueden ser diferentes a los obtenidos en otros lugares.

El plomo puede causar graves problemas de salud, especialmente en mujeres embarazadas y niños pequeños. Lea atentamente esta información para saber qué puede hacer para reducir el plomo en su agua potable.

¿Qué es un Nivel de Acción?

El nivel de acción para el plomo mide la eficacia del tratamiento de control de la corrosión en los sistemas de agua. No constituye un estándar para establecer un nivel seguro de plomo en una vivienda. Para comprobar si el control de la corrosión funciona, la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA) exige que los sistemas de agua analicen la presencia de plomo en el grifo de ciertas viviendas, incluidas aquellas con tuberías de servicio de agua de plomo. Los sistemas comparan los resultados de las muestras de las viviendas con el nivel de acción de la EPA de 0.015 mg/L (15 ppb). Si el 10 % de las muestras de estas viviendas presenta concentraciones de agua superiores al nivel de acción, la Ciudad debe tomar medidas como la educación pública, la adaptación del tratamiento y la sustitución de las tuberías de servicio de agua de plomo.

¿Qué sucedió?

Entre enero y junio de 2025, la División de Producción de Agua de la Ciudad de Aurora recolectó 100 muestras y las analizó para detectar plomo. Más del 10 % de las muestras recolectadas excedieron el nivel de acción de la EPA para el plomo.