Chatham Water Dept, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.4 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.
Chatham Water Dept at a glance
Chatham Water Dept serves about 8,962 people through 2,952 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 groundwater, in Morris County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ1404001; phone on file: 973-635-5242. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Chatham Water Dept's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (2.03 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Chatham Water Dept is 2.03 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.03 ppb |
| 2018 | 2 ppb |
How Chatham 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. Chatham Water Dept's 1.4 ppb sits at the 58th percentile in New Jersey and the 62nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
60 other systems share Morris County; 32 of them have a higher latest lead result than Chatham Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Southeast Morris County Mua | 62,349 | 1.1 ppb |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills Water Department | 50,400 | 4.2 ppb |
| Dover Water Commission | 27,806 | 2.78 ppb |
| Montville Twp Mua | 22,000 | 2.31 ppb |
| Denville Twp Water Dept | 15,881 | 4.31 ppb |
| Madison Water Dept | 15,820 | 2.55 ppb |
| Randolph Twp Public Works Dept | 14,820 | 3.35 ppb |
| Pequannock Twp Water Department | 14,010 | 3.56 ppb |
| Rockaway Twp Water Dept | 14,000 | 2.57 ppb |
| Nj American Water - Roxbury | 11,793 | 4 ppb |
Next steps for Chatam, NJ
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Chatam, 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 Chatham 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.