Ridgewood Water, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.61 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.
Ridgewood Water at a glance
Ridgewood Water serves about 61,700 people through 20,481 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 Bergen County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ0251001; phone on file: 201-670-5521. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
That is down 1.3 ppb from 3.91 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ridgewood Water is 6.28 ppb across 15 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.61 ppb |
| 2025 | 3.91 ppb |
| 2025 | 2.76 ppb |
| 2024 | 2.7 ppb |
| 2023 | 5.12 ppb |
| 2022 | 3.49 ppb |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 1.92 ppb |
| 2018 | 3.61 ppb |
| 2017 | 4 ppb |
| 2017 | 4.51 ppb |
| 2016 | 6.28 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. Ridgewood Water's 2.61 ppb sits at the 75th percentile in New Jersey and the 79th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
19 other systems share Bergen County; 8 of them have a higher latest lead result than Ridgewood Water. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Fair Lawn Water Dept | 35,564 | 2.5 ppb |
| Garfield Water Department | 30,487 | 3.4 ppb |
| Mahwah Water Department | 26,777 | 4.38 ppb |
| Passaic Valley Wc Lodi Wd | 24,136 | 0.85 ppb |
| Lyndhurst Water Department | 22,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elmwood Park Water Dept | 20,374 | 0 (not detected) |
| Park Ridge Water Dept | 16,466 | 1.4 ppb |
| Pvwc-North Arlington | 15,392 | 1.13 ppb |
| Ramsey Water Dept | 15,207 | 0 (not detected) |
| Saddle Brook Water Dept | 13,155 | 2.02 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ridgewood, 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 Ridgewood Water 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.