Garfield Water Department, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.4 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.
Garfield Water Department at a glance
Garfield Water Department serves about 30,487 people through 6,471 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 surface water, in Bergen County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ0221001; phone on file: 973-340-2000. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Garfield Water Department's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (3.3 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Garfield Water Department is 5.08 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3.4 ppb |
| 2021 | 3.3 ppb |
| 2018 | 5.08 ppb |
How Garfield Water Department 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. Garfield Water Department's 3.4 ppb sits at the 83rd percentile in New Jersey and the 85th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Bergen County
19 other systems share Bergen County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Garfield Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Ridgewood Water | 61,700 | 2.61 ppb |
| Fair Lawn Water Dept | 35,564 | 2.5 ppb |
| Mahwah Water Department | 26,777 | 4.38 ppb |
| Passaic Valley Wc Lodi Wd | 24,136 | 0.85 ppb |
| Lyndhurst Water Department | 22,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elmwood Park Water Dept | 20,374 | 0 (not detected) |
| Park Ridge Water Dept | 16,466 | 1.4 ppb |
| Pvwc-North Arlington | 15,392 | 1.13 ppb |
| Ramsey Water Dept | 15,207 | 0 (not detected) |
| Saddle Brook Water Dept | 13,155 | 2.02 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Garfield, 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 Garfield Water Department 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.