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IL American - Galena

What EPA’s and Illinois’s records show in this utility’s water: PFAS and lithium; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
2,294 people
Connections
2,294
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Godfrey, IL
County
Jo Daviess
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

61036

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from June 7, 2023 to Dec. 12, 2023.

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2004 to 2024.

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), chromium (total) and nitrate: Illinois’s own results, samples taken from April 27, 2020 to Sept. 9, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

PFAS: None of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule was found in this utility’s samples. None of the other 23 PFAS tested for was found either.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 4 ppt
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 4 ppt
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyNot foundNot found in any of 12 samples, below 3 ppt
Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together1Doesn’t applyDoesn’t apply: no sampling location found two or more of the four
Results from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling. “Below” is the lab’s reporting level: a result under it reads as not found, which is not the same as zero. The limits are EPA’s 2024 rule, with compliance due from 2029; EPA has since proposed changes to some of them, explained on each compound’s page. PFBS has no limit of its own and counts only toward the Hazard Index, which adds up the four, each against EPA’s health-based level, from each sampling location’s average, as EPA’s UCMR 5 summary does. It counts only where two or more of the four were found, and is above the limit from 1.5.

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

11ppb

90th percentile, 2022 to 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 11 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027, and this result is at or above that. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.8 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 2.0 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its six samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.3 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

29.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 4.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 29.7 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 77 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its five samples averaged 4.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 6.7 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.88ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024 average: 0.25 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.88 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 1.1 ppm. In 2024, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 0.25 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.92 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

2.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.4 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 5.6 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its five samples averaged 0.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.33 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Illinois utilities above EPA’s PFAS limits
32 compounds tested and not foundIncluding all six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 rule. Below the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.

From routine monitoring

  • Chromium (total)
  • Nitrate

PFAS and lithium, from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling

  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 4:2 FTS
  • 6:2 FTS
  • 8:2 FTS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • Lithium
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFBA
  • PFBS
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxA
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • PFOS
  • PFPeA
  • PFPeS
  • PFTA
  • PFTrDA
  • PFUnA

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for lead, ranked

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, typically 355 mg/L (20.8 grains per gallon), across 6 sampling points, 2018 to 2024.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 20.8 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Illinois water hardness, utility by utility

Disinfectant

IL American - Galena reported disinfecting with chlorine, not chloramine, at all 6 of its sampling points, in its 2023 sampling for EPA.

Chlorine leaves water that sits out for a few days, CDC says. A filter certified for it carries a chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 42; a shower filter, a free chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 177. This is what the utility reported for that sampling. Its annual water quality report says what it uses now.

Chlorine vs. chloramineShower filters, by what their listings cover

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Combined Radium (-226 and -228)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2026 to June 30, 20266.0 PCI/LArchived
Combined Radium (-226 and -228)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 20216.0 PCI/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 1 monitoring or reporting violation not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), chromium (total) and nitrate results here are Illinois’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. IL American - Galena’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 samples are from June 7, 2023 to Dec. 12, 2023; Illinois’s results run from April 27, 2020 to Sept. 9, 2026.

Testing your own tap

IL American - Galena’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Illinois certifies.

The 3 labs Illinois certifies closest to the area IL American - Galena serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Lyons Labs

    Stockton, IL · about 18 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (815) 947-3360

  • QC Analytical Services, LLC

    Le Claire, IA · about 54 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (563) 289-3373

  • Quad City Metallurgical Laboratory, Inc.

    Davenport, IA · about 58 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (563) 386-7827

Illinois Department of Public Health: Coliform bacteria and nitrate testing for private wells, with sample bottles from your local health department, or from the department's nearest regional office where there is none. You mail the sample to the lab, and results come back through the health department. Well Sampling for Coliform & Nitrate, Illinois Department of Public Health.

All 30 certified labs for Illinois

Sources

PWSID IL0855050. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Nearby

All Illinois utilities

What to do next