Caldwell Water Dept, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.92 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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 Caldwell Water Dept
Caldwell Water Dept serves about 9,027 people through 1,917 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 Essex County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ0703001; phone on file: 973-284-4958. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2021 (1.39 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Caldwell Water Dept is 1.92 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1.92 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.39 ppb |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
How Caldwell Water Dept compares
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. Caldwell Water Dept's 1.92 ppb sits at the 65th percentile in New Jersey and the 69th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Essex County
19 other systems share Essex County; 7 of them have a higher latest lead result than Caldwell Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Newark Water Department | 294,274 | 4.03 ppb |
| East Orange Water Commission | 75,000 | 1.59 ppb |
| Bloomfield Water Department | 53,315 | 2.2 ppb |
| Montclair Water Bureau | 40,150 | 0 (not detected) |
| Belleville Water Dept | 35,129 | 1.86 ppb |
| Orange Water Dept | 30,134 | 2.02 ppb |
| Nutley Water Dept | 29,500 | 0.55 ppb |
| Livingston Twp Div Of Water | 27,391 | 4.18 ppb |
| South Orange Water Department | 16,964 | 2 ppb |
| Verona Water Department | 13,641 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Nutley, NJ 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 Caldwell 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.