Jackson County, Illinois: drinking water report. Jackson County in southern Illinois has about 56,000 residents, with Carbondale (home to Southern Illinois…
Jackson County in southern Illinois has about 56,000 residents, with Carbondale (home to Southern Illinois University) as the largest community. The county draws water from Crab Orchard Lake, Cedar Lake, and groundwater wells. Southern Illinois coal mining history and the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge – which includes a Superfund site – create the county's water quality landscape.
The Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Superfund site encompasses former WWII ordnance manufacturing areas that produced explosives and later commercial products. According to EPA's 2024 remediation report, groundwater contamination from the facility includes PCBs, VOCs, and heavy metals. The contamination is concentrated around the former industrial areas and is being contained, but Crab Orchard Lake – which serves as both a water supply source and the refuge's central feature – has documented PCB contamination in sediment and fish.
Coal mine drainage in Jackson County impairs several tributaries of the Big Muddy River. Illinois EPA's 2024 assessment documented elevated iron and sulfate in streams near abandoned mines in the county's western portion.
Jackson County's combination of Superfund contamination and coal mine legacy means water quality depends on your specific source. Carbondale's treated water from Cedar Lake is separate from Crab Orchard Lake and meets all standards.
Check your water for data at your location. For private well users near the Superfund site or mining areas, a comprehensive test panel is worthwhile. Our water filter guide covers systems for both industrial and mining-related contamination. Pull your detailed report for local data, and visit our Illinois page for statewide patterns.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Jackson County, IL.
The EPA places Jackson County, IL in Zone 2 - a moderate-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
57% of homes in Jackson County, IL were built before 1980, and 16% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Jackson County, IL averages 8.3 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
17 public water systems serving Jackson County, IL have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 7 water systems serving Jackson County, IL carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule | 4 |
| Total Organic Carbon | 3 |
| Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule | 3 |
| Lead and Copper Rule | 2 |
| Lead and Copper Rule Revisions | 1 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.