Montclair Water Bureau, NJ
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (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. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Montclair Water Bureau at a glance
Montclair Water Bureau serves about 40,150 people through 10,635 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 Essex County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ0713001. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2025 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Montclair Water Bureau is 1.95 ppb across 14 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0.43 ppb |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 1.62 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.95 ppb |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
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. Montclair Water Bureau's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 38th percentile in New Jersey and the 39th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
19 other systems share Essex County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Montclair Water Bureau. 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 |
| East Orange Water Commission | 75,000 | 1.59 ppb |
| Bloomfield Water Department | 53,315 | 2.2 ppb |
| 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) |
Your move
Look up your address in Montclair Water Bureau's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Montclair Water Bureau 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. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.