Butler Water Dept, NJ
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2025-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Who runs the water here
Butler Water Dept serves about 7,630 people through 2,449 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Morris,Passaic County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ1403001; phone on file: 973-919-7628. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2024 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Butler Water Dept is 13.2 ppb across 10 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 1.71 ppb |
| 2022 | 2.21 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.56 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.73 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.54 ppb |
| 2019 | 13.2 ppb over 10 |
| 2018 | 9.89 ppb |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
Against other New Jersey systems
Of the 605 New Jersey systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 5 are over 15 ppb right now and 52 have gone over at some point. Butler Water Dept's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 31st percentile in New Jersey and the 36th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Next steps for Butler, NJ
Look up your address in Butler Water Dept's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Butler Water Dept 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.