Pine Hills, DE
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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.
Who runs the water here
Pine Hills serves about 953 people through 350 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Cecil County, Delaware. EPA system ID: MD0070019; phone on file: 302-453-6900. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2020 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Pine Hills is 1 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 1 ppb |
How Pine Hills compares
Of the 196 Delaware systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.31 ppb; 1 are over 15 ppb right now and 14 have gone over at some point. Pine Hills's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 34th percentile in Delaware and the 26th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
9 other systems share Cecil County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Pine Hills. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Elkton West | 3,500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mountain Hill Water Company | 2,154 | 0 (not detected) |
| Port Deposit | 725 | 0 (not detected) |
| Harbor View | 437 | 0 (not detected) |
| Carpenters Point Water Co. | 400 | 0 (not detected) |
| Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park | 325 | 11.5 ppb |
| Cecil Woods Mobile Home Park Wtp | 285 | 1.3 ppb |
| Route 7 Distribution System | 100 | - |
| Chestnut Point Estates Wtp | 82 | - |
Next steps for Newark, DE
Look up your address in Pine Hills'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 Pine Hills 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.