Manchester Utilities Authority, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.81 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.
Who runs the water here
Manchester Utilities Authority serves about 12,000 people through 4,461 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 Passaic County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ1603001; phone on file: 973-998-9100. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2021 (1.65 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Manchester Utilities Authority is 1.65 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.81 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.65 ppb |
| 2018 | 0.79 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Manchester Utilities Authority's 0.81 ppb sits at the 47th percentile in New Jersey and the 48th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
25 other systems share Passaic County; 14 of them have a higher latest lead result than Manchester Utilities Authority. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Passaic Valley Water Commission | 310,483 | 1.62 ppb |
| Township Of Wayne | 55,000 | 2.93 ppb |
| Pompton Lakes Mua | 11,435 | 2.51 ppb |
| Nj American Water - Little Falls | 11,247 | 1 ppb |
| Totowa W Dept | 10,804 | 3.5 ppb |
| Wanaque W Dept. | 10,266 | 6.81 ppb |
| Ringwood Water Department | 9,327 | 1.7 ppb |
| Bloomingdale Water Dept | 7,742 | 0 (not detected) |
| Woodland Park Water Department | 6,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Veolia Water Nj - Olde Milford Est | 1,577 | 3.59 ppb |
Next steps for Woodland Park, NJ
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Woodland 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 Manchester Utilities Authority 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.