Highland Park W Dept, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.63 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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.
Highland Park W Dept at a glance
Highland Park W Dept serves about 14,000 people through 3,100 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 Middlesex County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ1207001; phone on file: 732-819-3789. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Highland Park W Dept's lead record
That is down 2.75 ppb from 3.38 ppb in the period ending 2023. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Highland Park W Dept is 3.38 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0.63 ppb |
| 2023 | 3.38 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.01 ppb |
| 2017 | 1.95 ppb |
| 2017 | 1.87 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. Highland Park W Dept's 0.63 ppb sits at the 45th percentile in New Jersey and the 45th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Middlesex County
13 other systems share Middlesex County; 9 of them have a higher latest lead result than Highland Park W Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Middlesex Water Company | 233,376 | 0.85 ppb |
| Old Bridge Mua | 68,000 | 1.75 ppb |
| New Brunswick W Dept | 55,000 | 1.78 ppb |
| Perth Amboy Water Department | 52,328 | 0 (not detected) |
| East Brunswick Water Utility | 49,715 | 0.4 ppb |
| Sayreville W Dept | 45,345 | 0.54 ppb |
| North Brunswick W Dept | 43,905 | 2.4 ppb |
| Monroe Twp Utility Department | 36,000 | 1.34 ppb |
| Edison Water Co | 35,000 | 1.18 ppb |
| South River W Dept | 16,000 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Highland Park, NJ
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Highland Park, 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 Highland Park W 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.