East Orange Water Commission, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.59 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.
East Orange Water Commission at a glance
East Orange Water Commission serves about 75,000 people through 9,953 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Essex County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ0705001. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Every lead result on file
That is down 1.06 ppb from 2.65 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for East Orange Water Commission is 4.28 ppb across 11 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.59 ppb |
| 2025 | 2.65 ppb |
| 2024 | 1.28 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.41 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 2.59 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.81 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.53 ppb |
| 2018 | 4.13 ppb |
| 2017 | 4.12 ppb |
| 2017 | 4.28 ppb |
How East Orange Water Commission 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. East Orange Water Commission's 1.59 ppb sits at the 59th percentile in New Jersey and the 64th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Essex County
19 other systems share Essex County; 9 of them have a higher latest lead result than East Orange Water Commission. 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 |
| 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) |
| Cedar Grove Water Dept | 12,900 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for East Orange, NJ
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; East Orange, 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 East Orange Water Commission 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.