Colby Water Co, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.98 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). 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.
Colby Water Co at a glance
Colby Water Co serves about 65 people through 19 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Sussex County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ1904007. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Colby Water Co's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (1.5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Colby Water Co is 6.7 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0.98 ppb |
| 2025 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2025 | 0.67 ppb |
| 2024 | 2.9 ppb |
| 2024 | 3.37 ppb |
| 2023 | 3.71 ppb |
| 2020 | 6.7 ppb |
| 2017 | 5 ppb |
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. Colby Water Co's 0.98 ppb sits at the 49th percentile in New Jersey and the 50th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Sussex County
59 other systems share Sussex County; 40 of them have a higher latest lead result than Colby Water Co. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Sparta Twp Water Utility - Lake Mohawk | 17,625 | 1.01 ppb |
| Newton Water & Sewer Utility | 8,300 | 2.75 ppb |
| Hopatcong Water Dept | 7,224 | 9.37 ppb |
| Veolia Water New Jersey Vernon Valley | 5,517 | 0 (not detected) |
| Franklin Bd Of Public Works | 5,500 | 1.09 ppb |
| Stanhope W Dept | 3,730 | 5.88 ppb |
| Hamburg Board Of Public | 3,382 | 2.01 ppb |
| Ogdensburg W Dept | 2,800 | 1.66 ppb |
| Sussex W Dept | 2,201 | 0 (not detected) |
| Montague Water Co. | 2,165 | 2 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Byram Twp, 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 Colby Water Co whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1400 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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.