Orange Water Dept, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.02 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.
Orange Water Dept at a glance
Orange Water Dept serves about 30,134 people through 4,597 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: NJ0717001; phone on file: 973-343-9001. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Orange Water Dept's lead record
That is up 2.02 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Orange Water Dept is 4.61 ppb across 19 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.02 ppb |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 1.21 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 1.25 ppb |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 2.8 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.43 ppb |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 4.06 ppb |
| 2017 | 4.61 ppb |
| 2016 | 3.3 ppb |
How Orange Water Dept 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. Orange Water Dept's 2.02 ppb sits at the 67th percentile in New Jersey and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
19 other systems share Essex County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Orange Water Dept. 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 |
| Montclair Water Bureau | 40,150 | 0 (not detected) |
| Belleville Water Dept | 35,129 | 1.86 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 Orange, NJ
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; 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 Orange Water 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.