Artesian Southern Sussex Regional, DE
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
About Artesian Southern Sussex Regional
Artesian Southern Sussex Regional serves about 20,145 people through 6,715 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Sussex County, Delaware. EPA system ID: DE00A0323; phone on file: 302-453-2389. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is down 2 ppb from 4 ppb in the period ending 2022. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Artesian Southern Sussex Regional is 4.4 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 4 ppb |
| 2021 | 2 ppb |
| 2018 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2016 | 1.9 ppb |
| 2016 | 4.4 ppb |
Against other Delaware systems
Of the 196 Delaware systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.31 ppb; 1 are over 15 ppb right now and 14 have gone over at some point. Artesian Southern Sussex Regional's 2 ppb sits at the 74th percentile in Delaware and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
96 other systems share Sussex County; 32 of them have a higher latest lead result than Artesian Southern Sussex Regional. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Rehoboth Pump District (Tui) | 81,417 | 0.71 ppb |
| Bethany Bay Pump District | 52,684 | 2.3 ppb |
| Dewey Beach Water Department | 31,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rehoboth Beach Water Department | 25,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sussex Shores Water Company | 12,450 | 6.9 ppb |
| Bethany Beach Water Department | 12,000 | 4.9 ppb |
| Long Neck Water Company | 11,000 | 1.1 ppb |
| Lewes Board Of Public Works | 9,627 | 21.6 ppb |
| Millsboro Water Department | 8,568 | 5.2 ppb |
| Bayside Pump District (Tui) | 8,400 | 2.3 ppb |
Next steps for Newark, DE
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Newark, DE may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Artesian Southern Sussex Regional whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.